Nice. You should try the soundside for trout.

I have bought several from Plattinum Products. You might want to check them out.
https://plattinumproducts.com/

eels.

No problem.

Check out John Skinner on youtube. He recently moved into that area and is a wealth of information.

Slow right now in the Chesapeake Bay. Water is cold. But that is changing.

Agree.

A lot depends on what kind of surf fishing you are doing. I am coming at this based on surf fishing primarily on the Outer Banks but where and how you fish makes a big difference in preferred gear. A standard here is 8 and wait - (8oz of weight plus bait). That may be overkill for other places but you are not going to get the casting distance land a 40# red drum on 20# test on a 7-8' rod. Even a lot of lures weigh 3oz. or better and require a longer rod to be able to get them out there. 11-13' is pretty common here.

In general the bigger the surf rod the higher the weight rating but there are exceptions. A number of 11' rods will cast a low as 3/4-1oz but you pay for that sensitivity. I fish surf rods between 7 and 12'. 7-8 1/2' (1/2 to 2oz) for inshore and smaller species, 9-11' (1-4oz) for general surf casting and 12' (2-6oz) for larger targets.

Check out some of the rod manufacturer sites and look at the lengths and ratings. That should give you a good idea about what is available and look and see what other fishermen are using where you are fishing. A lot of their choices may be based on experience.

I put my "bait" in a muslin bag (hop sock) and suspend it in the center of the trap. Works fine but better with a bait that emits some kind of stronger scent than bread or crackers - at least for saltwater imo.

There are colleges that have fishing teams. What about studying marine biology while fishing on a college team.

Good suggestion.

You should be fine for most fish under 5# but that reel only has 10# of drag so anything over 5#might be a challenge. 50# leader is probably overkill for what you need or can catch.

That being said I hope you are challenged. Tight lines.

It has been a couple years but the river side was undergoing a sand replenishment at the time so it was virtually useless from shore. There were some nice jetties in the area though on oceanside. Check Google maps. I'd also look at the bridge on old A1A.

Replace the reel part and then the line. Getting caught on scratched parts has probably knicked and weakened it.

You get what you pay for. Once you lose a nice fish due to a cheap hook failing you will be rushing back to the store for decent hooks. Knowing what you are targeting might help with suggestions but cheap hooks are a good way to waste the time and effort you are putting in to catch fish IMO.