>>2578911there's no real reason to go more than a 3000; and a couple ounces gets really heavy after running gotcha plugs for a few hours. the 3000 bg will hold over 200 yards of #20 power pro which will be plenty for normal redfish, trout, bluefish, spanish, 'sea mullet' (kingfish, both northern and southern) , croaker, pompano, sheepshead, trigger fish, and he could even take a shot at a smaller cobia if one happened by a pier. skates would be no concern, either.
>>2578885if you can swing a second combo a heavier combo is nice to have too , for soaking bait.
my first surf casting setup was a diawa beefstick 12 foot surf rod and an old penn longbeach 60 i bought off ebay; whole combo was under $50 before i put line on it and both are still functional, though i've upgraded to a penn mag 525 for the reel. it'd open up sharks, bull redfish, and other larger species for you. it would also get you half way to king rigs, pin rigs, trolley rigs, all names for pic related.
