Either is fine. My current surf rod is a spinning outfit. I have many spinning and bait casting reels for freshwater. I don't want them to see saltwater. I know Penn has a good name when it comes to saltwater but i use a lot of Shimano reels for freshwater. They can get pricey and I am not going to be that hrd on them. I just don't want to spend too little and have it brake nor do I want to spend too much and have it sit around. I am also clueless when it comes to surf rods. The one I currently have I bought when I had scheduled a charter for striper and the boat didn't go out do to high winds. So I wasn't going to give up. I went to the closest tackle store, bought a rod and reel and fished from the surf. I had a great time and caught many stripers and got hooked. That was a few years ago but I still haven't read up on it.