recommended tackle and lures?

Question
Hi,

Due to a bitter divorce, I did not see my son for 30 years, until last year. Still haven't seen him, but have had some phone contact. He just recently had all his fishing gear stolen. Even though he grew up without me, he is a third generation fisherman on my side (for food and fun).  Guess it is in the genes.
He lives near Corpus and goes surf fishing with his wife and children.
Other than a few names like Shimano, Garcia, and Penn, I know nothing about the quality of reels and rods.  I just looked on ebay. The prices have gone up considerably since 1977, when I bought some surf gear. I only went to the shore a few times before moving away from it.
I am in north texas and there is no salt water gear locally, or sources of advice.
I wanted to surprise him with some replacement gear.  

Can you give me any recommendations regarding quality and best buys, for non-pro, but frequent surf fishing?
Also the lures seem quite expensive.  Do you know of any good sources with low prices?
I don't know if he prefers spinning or level wind reels.  He has no preferences regarding target fish.  If it is edible, he wants to go after it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Mel,

Fishing tackle these days are pretty expensive. The high quality ones are going higher and higher in price but are tougher and are more resistant to corrosion than ever.

There are a lot of name brands out there and a few actually carry models that could fit your price range, but be warned, they might be more than what you were spending in 1977. A good quality reel from any brand these days usually comes in at $200 more or less. Surf fishing is especially punishing so most reels are made with either high quality anodized aluminum bodies or high impact graphite bodies. An example of the latter, which is a decently priced reel, is the daiwa emcast. just a litte over $60, this reel could be used for small fish with no problems. Anything over 15lbs with it though and it becomes a bit hairy.

Places such as cabelas.com offer internet shopping, basspro.com is another good one, with very good prices as well as reasonable shipping. Digitaldagger.com specializes on surf fishing as well.

Any combo that holds up to 300 or so yards of 15lbs line would suit his needs. If it's surf fishing, then most likely he would want a rod that's over 10 feet in length to get the distance he needs in surf fishing. both cabelas and basspro have house branded lures which are pretty decently priced.

hope this helps, and if you need more clarification, drop me a line in private so my answer wouldn't be like a commercial for brands. :)

thanks,

Kit