Surf Fishing Help

[smr_hga]

Well it seems i may be surf fishing for the very first time soon. (If the weather holds up anyway). Anyways here is my setup, Its an old 12ft rod given to me by my grandfather. I paired it with a Penn spinning reel and 15lb mono. Now the rod and reel should hold up but i know that i should maybe have heavier line, 15lb is my heaviest line though so i'll have to work with that. As for rigging i will just use a bottom rig with circle hooks and a 3oz pyramid sinker. Now my real question is what to use for bait. I have frozen shrimp and squid will either be effecient? Thanks for the help and any other advice is welcome.

[soflabasser]

What species of fish are you targeting?Live bait is very effective as well as fresh cut bait.

[smr_hga]

23 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

What species of fish are you targeting?Live bait is very effective as well as fresh cut bait.

Honestly i'd love to catch anything. I love catching new species and i've never caught a redfish, bluefish, jack, mackerel, flounder etc. So basically whatever bites. Maybe if i catch a smaller baitfish (ladyfish?) i could use it for live/cut bait.

[soflabasser]

A live ladyfish is a good bait to use for a big snook or tarpon,but you will need to use heavier mono and bigger hooks.Fresh ladyfish cutbait is a good bait to use for many of the species you mentioned. 

[smr_hga]

Just out of curiosity, how much time does it usually take to get a bite? I don't think i will be able to fish much longer than 2 hours.