Being new to saltwater fishing, I figured I would be simple and buy some of the ready made redfish rigs you get at Academy. Are these pretty successful because it seems most people make their own rigs? I'll be surf fishing if it matters. I keep hearing that circle hooks seem to be the best but these rigs are set up with more of a straight hook.

Pards, no need to make stuff complicated.
Get some Oldham screw lock heads, they have to literally shred the plastic off the jig. Tie it straight to 20# braid, put your new favorite plastic on it and go catch 'em. Redfish are a swimming garbage disposal, whatever gets in their way will soon be eaten.

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Pat, you make it sound so easy! Seems the trick is to find them... just like hunting in the Rockies: Elk are quite big and kind of easy to hit once you FIND them
But I agree, in my very limited experience if reds are in the vicinity, they will pick whatever is around them. I had one pick up an unattended Gulp shrimp just sitting in the bottom while I tended another rod (which finally broke off and lost the mystery fish)... and 15 minutes later another red attacking that same Gulp even with a jig lure stuck in the back of its throat, incidentally its was the same jig and red that I had lost a while earlier. So, 2 reds, caught 3 times, 2 bites on Gulp shrimp and jighead, and 1 on a speckrig tipped with dead shrimp.

For the surf, those redfish rigs are fine, however you will have to deal with gut hooks more often than with the circle hook. I tie my own rigs for redfish. for slot reds, I use a double drop leader with shrimp or shrimp flavored fishbites. For bull reds, I use leaders similar to the store bought ones with circle hooks with a piece of cut mullet.

Store bought ones work OK, but I prefer to make my own.

I caught this little guy with fish finder rig, kind of like a basic catfishing bottom rig using a 1/0 Owner Mutu light wire circle hook and half of a shrimp.

Yep... they'll eat anything in their way, even shotgun shells, jalapenos, plastic bottles.. it's definitely about finding them.

Any rig will do and it's always fun to rig your own if you have time.