Beginner fisher, need help with setup

[NewbieFisher12]

I live in Brooklyn New York and I want to get into the hobby of fishing. I'm a fast learner but I have no idea what brands of rods/reels/ or any type of gear I should get. I want to get 3 rods and I can budget up $300 on all the gear I would need to have a comfortable fishing experience. The fish I'm targeting is striped bass, blue fish, and flounder. The fishing spots nearby is a pier and a beach. Thank you for your help.

Picture of the beach: [url "http://educationupdate.com/homeroom/spot-john%20dewey%20beach%20cleanup%20Kaiser%20Park.jpg"][/url]
and the pier.

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[gdn443]

Looks like you will need a surf rod with a spinning reel. put on some 20 lb braid on that rig. For the dock, a stiff 5ft rod with a bait caster reel with 15 lb mono. should work well. $300 can get you there if you buy combo rigs at a big box store like Dicks. Good luck.
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[Tarpon4me]

Greg gave you some good advice. With three rods, you'll want to get three different set ups for the varying conditions. On the pier, you don't need a long rod, the shorter rod is great, where as on the beach you need the longer rod so you can cast beyond the breakers.

I would recommend you get those two types of rods, and the money you save not buying the third, use to get quality terminal tackle, a good cast net, and maybe a beach cart if you're gonna be surf fishing. The cast net is key, as for what you want to target, live bait is king. Do yourself a favor and invest in a good pair of polarized sun glasses if you don't already have some. They will make it much easier to see the bait in the water.

Ugly stik makes a good rod for the money. That will keep you in your budget. As for reels, i'd stick with spinning reels since you're new to the sport, and I am a big fan of the all steel Penn reels. I'd go with something like a battle until you know for sure you're going to like it, then you can upgrade. They are braid ready and good reels for the money.

Don't forget fluorocarbon, and learn how to tie some basic knots like an improved clinch, Albright, and polamer. I may have spelled them wrong, but just google fishing knots. Each of those three knots has it's use. Improved clinch is good for attaching terminal tackle. Albright is good for attaching leader material to your braid. Polamer is another good knot for low vis situations, or if you're tieing line onto something with a large diameter.
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