any suggestions on an all purpose salmon/steelhead fly blank for the great lake (erie & onterio) around 9-10 feet 9wt. thanks in advance for any suggestions.

10 ft RX7 blanks are well designed for what you want to do, the 8 wt is very well thought of here on the west coast. They are very forgiving blanks that throw floating, sinktip, and shooting heads well.

I use a Dan Craft FT blank (9', 8wt) that's fast and works very well on the Lake Superior tribs I fish steelhead and salmon for. Definately enough backbone to support Chuck & Duck, drift fishing as well as regular floating fly line presentations. I built a 9' 9wt for my wife on a Batson RX6 blank that is a bit more moderate action (easier for her to cast) but it can shoot an entire fly line into the backing (Batson guides too). I've also seen a couple of folk's have success with the lighter Batson Spey Blanks (11'6" 6/7 spey and 12'6" 7/8 spey). From what I was able to find out they like the longer length for drift presentations, the rods are still manageable with single hand technique (they aren't so big), and they can use the spey techniques to keep the line out in front of them on pools where you have no place for a back cast. I know those pools too (and there are some large resident browns that live there) and have thought of learning spey techniques to be able to fish them.