I'm usually a bass fisherman. My wife and I tried some surf fishing this weekend and we would like to get a little more serious about it. We were fishing along Padre Island National Seashore about 15 miles south of where the road ends.
We were using some 7'6" rods, 30lb braid, and 2 oz weights. I would wade out a little and cast probably 60-70 yards out.
All we caught were some Whitings.

I prefer bait casting tackle to spinning tackle. We are not species specific - pretty much what ever will bite and put up a good fight.

Any recommendations for rods/reels and terminal tackle would be appreciated. I assume just about anything works for bait?

Is night fishing better than day fishing?

Small sharks are a good bet this time of year. Squid, live pinfish/mullet, and cut mullet are all excellent baits. Use a good cable/wire leader and a 8/0-12/0 hook with a 2-4 oz spider weight. You don't need huge gear, but a decent surf rod and a 4000-6000 caliber spinning reel with 30 lb mono or braid will be plenty.

Rick I have been down there surfside, freeport Galveston ect and done the same thing. Whiting or get bait stolen. Never once caught anything of size from the surf. I try to go to the jetties now. At least I can catch fish there.

@Rickmb there are several in this forum who can give you good advice. I grew up fishing the surf from Galveston down to Padre, it's by far my favorite way to fish. There are a few guys on YouTube who have great videos, this guy is legit (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe0wfJpy4iPt2FdiCGO66cw) this guy is pretty goofy (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiv6bJXEigAbk7eUcLDXXNA) but both of them have great channels dedicated to fishing the Texas coast.

A few different ways to fish:
* Wading in the mornings with live bait -- I prefer live mullet or pinfish, but live shrimp are great too. Wade out to the second bar and fish, best during the summer on falling pressure/changing tides, especially if the wind lays down and the water cleans up.
* Wading in the mornings with lures. Similar as above, actually
* Setting out big lines -- I have several surf rods (10-12 feet), typically wade to the second or swim to the third bar and cast. This is best late summer to fall, but you can catch great fish all year long. I like live bait in the gut before the second bar during the day (caught a TON of specks doing this). Dead bait will get you whiting and a few other species (sounds like this is what you were doing), you can use much lighter tackle as you generally need less weight to hold bottom. Big rods can sling "8 and bait" -- 8oz of lead to hold bottom and another 8-12 oz of bait!
* Kayaking out baits. We started doing this in the early 90s in Galveston (it had been around a long time), you can use kayaks or paddle boards or even surf boards. some guys these days are using drones, but the idea is that you stand on the beach and use some other way than casting to get your bait out. Here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hyS10ubnQM

Night fishing can be great, especially if you can get a clear full moon in the evening in August, September, or October it can be magical. Generally you'll catch bigger fish closer to shore, if you're targeting big sharks (6+ feet), you're probably fishing all night.

Surf fished outside Galveston for many years. PINS is a slightly different (nicer) place to fish. But either way, keep it simple. 10ft-12ft spinning rod. 30lb braid or Trilene Big Game mono. 5/0 to 6/0 circle hook. 2oz-4oz spider weight. (weight depends on current/waves) Spider weight has legs that help hold bait in spot. Catch a whiting on your baitcast gear (use small hook and shrimp). Cut whiting head off and put that on your big gear. Wade out as far as you care (the third gut will most likely be over your head) and heave the bait out. Walk back, put rod in an elevated rod holder (the taller rod holder the better to keep the line above the swells), catch your breath (wading out to third gut and wading back will wear you out), and wait for the bite. Catch more whiting for bait while waiting for something bigger to bite. I've caught bull reds, shark, sheepshead, etc. on this rig. Switch out whiting heads about every hour to keep them fresh.

That video guy ATX put up I watched as well and Ben was helpful to me in getting back into it as well. This video from that guy really was the most helpful to me: BEST Top 10 Surf Fishing Tips (Catch More Fish From The Surf) -- just general tips that defogged the brain quickly.

Like you I'm not species specific - just wanted to do it again after a 40 year layoff. Not as good on my feet anymore so not doing the jetty thing though I did that extensively. I'm using the setups I used for that though since I know them like them and can be ready for anything. The setups I use/used are below. Nothing earth shaking, but we used to clamber out all the way to the tip end of the Ponce Inlet Jetty (early 1970's) and that was no place to tie a rig. In short we go from reel and main line - uni knot to shock leader (5-10 wraps around barrel) (any kind reel) O ---------shock leader ------T/oo (sinker slider snap assembly)---------(various terminal rigs for multi species - either cable or line - carry these in baggies and you're ready for whatever comes by).

A lot of smaller fish on lite tackle vs fewer to none on the heavy stuff. The surf can be the most fun fishing there is.
Catching a mess of Whiting on lite tackle can be a blast and they fry up real good.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond.
I like the idea of catching whiting and using them for bait (or eating the bigger ones).
I guess I already have the gear to catch them and kill time between the big fish.
I think I need to use smaller hooks to get more whitings.

It sounds like I need some longer rods than what I have now.
Time to go shopping!

Whiting make a great all around bait year round. Start small catching whiting, croaker, sand trout, etc. on fishbites or dead shrimp and then start bombing out some pretty decent sized chunks over the first bar. 10ft or more rods are pretty crucial for being able to get some decent sized baits out. For the whiting, the smaller the hook the better. Size 2 Owner circles are my favorite.

Thanks for the help!