Although I live in Port Angeles, I grew up on the SE Atlantic Coast. I fished Florida, Georgia and North Carolina at times. Using big surf rods up to 12 feet.
12 footers are powerful rods if made from the correct blanks, but they can be a handful to cast. My main rod way back then was a 11 footer rated 2 to 6 ounces. The reel was a Garcia 396 loaded with 20 pound Trilene, if my technique was right on I could cast about 120 yards with a 6 oz sinker. Now I have several 11 and 12 footers rated at 4 to 8 ounces and one for 8 to 12 ounces. Man killers if you cast a lot. Some for spinning reels and some for conventional.
All that being said, I would start with a spinning rod, maybe 2 to 4 ounces or 4 to 6 ounces. Composite of course. Probably 10 feet. Then when you master the casting technique, go for a longer and heavier rod.
I am building a surf rod now for my brother in law, he lives near Boston and fishes the Cape Cod Beaches and Cape Cod Canal. 10 feet long, 4 to 6 ounces, two piece spinning. Reel will be a Penn Spinfisher V, size 6500, with 40 pound braid. This would make an ideal rod for your needs. Batson/Rainshadow blank.
If you have not used braid on a spinning reel before, be careful. The thin braid will slice you finger when you are holding the line against the rod when making a cast, a finger protector is required. If new to casting a surf rod with a spinning reel, monofilament is best. 20 pound mono is sufficient for the fish you are after.
Do not go too big on the reel, the heavier the reel the more work it takes to use it and cast effectively. A 5500 or 6500 size reel will handle anything you will run across in the surf.
If you have a good casting technique. a 12 footer will out cast a shorter rod. The reason for the big heavy 12 foot and longer rods on the east coast is for casting a heavy sinker (8 ounces) with a big chunk of bait way out past the second or third sandbar to reach the prime areas where both Striped Bass and Channel Bass roam. We call them 8 and bait rods.
I have a half dozen or so spinning reels for surf casting in my collection and 10 or so conventional reels for surf casting. The ancient Penn 140, 145 and 146 Squidders are still excellent surf reels when matched to the correct rod and if the caster is experienced with a conventional and is able to cast without backlashing the reels. These reels do not have a level wind: Level winds are a no no for long casts as there is too much inertia and line friction.
Google DBlue surf rods, they are an excellent surf rod and you can purchase directly from DBlue. I have one, a 11 foot conventional.
If you plan on building a rod, let me know and I will look up a Batson/Rainshadow blank number for you. I live 10 miles from Batson and use their rod blanks.
I have several Rainshadow heavy surf rod blanks that are 13 1/2 feet long. Powerful blanks made for Cape Hatteras on the North Carolina Coast. Designed for heavy sinkers and bait for long casting out past the second and third bars. When I get around to the task, I will wrap up a couple and try them out.
Here you go, the standards of the 1960's: A Penn 145 Squidder and a 700 Penn Spinning reel, the "Greenie". I have several of each.
And then we have the Alvey: Big long rods and immense reels for very long casts, at the expense of requiring a lot of strength and the proper technique for making those impressive casts. I have the one below in my collection. It is a handful to cast! The rod was made by Lamiglas a long time ago for Alvey. Rated at 8ounces. 14 feet long.
