I want to get a decent setup for saltwater pier fishing. Can anyone recommend a good setup and maybe some ideas for rigging outside of the standard bottom rig? Will mainly be just drowning shrimp and squid for croaker, blue, flounder, trout and hopefully striped bass.

Standard fish finder rig http://www.freewebs.com/ncsaltwater/pyramid-fishfinder_rig.jpg

Standard fish finder rig http://www.freewebs.com/ncsaltwater/pyramid-fishfinder_rig.jpg

Thanks. Do you have any recommendations on a good rod reel combo?

For the species other than stripers any med or mh sp rod with a 4000 reel is more than enough, stripers will require a larger outfit. I would use for pier no less than an 8' rod, 30 lb class 4 oz max lure wt and an 6- 8000 reel or a good conventional b/c. I am by no means an expert on pier fishing.

For the species other than stripers any med or mh sp rod with a 4000 reel is more than enough, stripers will require a larger outfit. I would use for pier no less than an 8' rod, 30 lb class 4 oz max lure wt and an 6- 8000 reel or a good conventional b/c. I am by no means an expert on pier fishing.

Well that steers me in the right direction!

I did forget to mention you'll need a rod that can handle your sinker plus the weight of the baits itself.