Newbie Surf Fishing Help

I'll be taking a family vacation down to Orange Beach from June 4-8. We'll probably hang out on the beach most of the time we are there and I'd like to try my hand at some surf fishing. I'd like to know what kind of gear and bait to use. I currently have an Abu Garcia 7000iC3 reel spooled with 300 yds of 80 lb power pro on a 7' Ugly Stik Tiger Medium Heavy Rod. I've used the rig in the past as our primary rod for alligator hunting in Mississippi. Would this rod and reel combo work for catching pretty large species of the beach at this time of year? I know a lot of people use smaller setups for fishing off the pier. I also have an Abu Garcia 6600 on a 7' medium heavy action Ugly Stik catfish rod. Would I be able to fish this combo off the beach to catch some smaller species. I really don't care what we go after, but it might be fun to catch some smaller fish to eat as well as target some bigger fish for sport. I'm an absolute novice when it comes to salt water fishing so any help is appreciated.

WELCOME dwrich!

Both of those rigs would be OK for bigger game in the surf, just be sure to get some sand spikes to keep the reels up and out of the sand.
Any lighter tackle you have (bass, even bream) would likely work for the smaller fish (eating fish) as that is an ideal time to jig or plug from the beach or even use light set rigs for whiting, pompano, etc.

Let me know if I can help... ;-)