Help with fishing pole purchase

I've had em all. Shimano,Allstar,Castaway,. My fave is a Ducket. Get you one. Microguide FTW.

Just getting back into it? Have academy gift certificates? H20 spinning reel and h20 rod. Cheap good stuff. Upgrade later if you want. If you break it, bring it back and exchange it. Wrap 150 yards of 30# braid on it and call it a day. Get yourself 1 large Plano box and fill it with jig heads, lead heads, spoons, spinner baits, some gulp swimming mullets (white and chartreuse) and beetle grubs.

Might pick up a popping cork or two and some vudu shrimp.

I got a couple $20 quantum optix spinning reels that still run like champs with salt use. I'd go for that for now, since you're gonna be buying a lot of tackle and other equipment too. Upgrade/buy more later if you desire. Rods I'd look at all stars, cast aways, shimano, whatever you can find of a decent brand in the $50ish dollar range. Medium action, 7'.

Same tackle DLauw said, throw in gulp shrimp, khale hooks for live bait (3/0 is probably good) and I like clip on rattle corks, easy to adjust the depth or remove. I like matrix shad too.

I use allstars for saltwater. I'm not big on the combos. I use penn spinning reels. And my go to bait is a vudu shrimp. I saw h2o copied the vudu pretty good and at a much better price. Buy a few different colors and use them with or without a cork. Also, stock up on some swim baits, different colors and sizes. A good variety is nice because you never know what they'll be hitting. If the vudu isn't catching them, my next favorite is a sparkle beetle. Split tail, clear, sparkles in it, red dot on one side(not sure if the actual name is sparkle beetle). And if you're going after reds, have a few gold spoons. I keep a few silver too.

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matrix shad

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Oh yeah, forgot those. I like the LSU and the white with the red eye.

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Dr. Morgus

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6'6-7' MH rod. Pick from one of the ones mentioned above^^^

Pick up a couple different size jigheads, gold spoons, popping corks, and a couple different soft plastics.

I bring three rods when I fish. One has a gold spoon, another has a jighead with a soft plastic (usually TTF killer flats minnow or matrix shad), and the last has a popping cork with a GULP! shrimp on it.
If I'm not getting any bites on those then the fish aren't there

Just a word of advice: I have four All-Star rods and on two of them the rod seats have started spinning completely around. It's probably just bad luck on my part, but keep your receipt for a nice easy exchange. I ended up getting two St. Croix rods and have been very happy.

I'd get a pole and reel separately that way you can get what you want with each. I like a Shimano Sedona 2500, sturdy reel, not too expensive, not too big.

As for tackle, buy a few basics (gold spoon, popping cork, jig heads, vudu shrimp, matrix shad) and learn how you like to fish. Don't buy a huge load of tackle and end up not using half of it. Start small and work your way up.