Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) rod panels (CRPs), which consist of small diameter CFRP rods formed into short-length panels and made continuous with a finger joint mechanism, have been researched and implemented as an externally bonded reinforcement for strengthening and repairing concrete members. Compared to externally bonded CFRP laminates, CRPs offer several advantages including much higher bond capacity and modular application, facilitating the retrofits of long-span members or those with limited access. Their success with concrete can be extended to other substrate materials such as steel, masonry, and timber. In this work, the bond characteristics of CRP-steel joint were determined from testing 24 double-lap bond experiments conducted on CRPs with 2 mm CFRP rods. The studied parameters were (a) panel bond length (Lb), varied from 75 to 225 mm; (b) panel to steel width ratio (bcrp/bs), varied from 0.25 to 1.0; and rod spacing to diameter (S/D) ratio, varied from 3.175 to 6.35. For CRP070 which consists of 2 mm rods spaced at 6.35 mm, the development length and bond strength were found to be 125 mm and 7.50 MPa, respectively. Increasing the bcrp/bs ratio reduced the bond strength for CRP070. Three failure modes, steel-adhesive debonding, rod slippage from adhesive, and rod rupture, occurred and were dependent on the varied parameters.