Brom,

If you're fishing off the beach, you'll want a good long pole 3-5 meters, so that you can cast far if you need to. I'd start off with basic monofilament as you main line--30-40 pound test of the thinnest diameter you can find. Thinner is better for several reasons: you can put more line on the spool, harder for the fish to see and it won't be so easily caught and pulled by the wind. A like the banax sx 5000 personally as my cheap ($50) reel. It's a good starter reel, even though t drag can a be a bit touchy, you'll learn how it works soon enough. Don't over tighten the drag unless you are sure that you have strong enough line on there, because just a slight turn of the drag can take you from nearly free spinning to locker down tight, and if there is a big hammour on the line, he might just break off. Most guys fishing off the beach for bigger fish would likely play the fish out before bringing it in. in other words, let the fish run a bit and just take back a little line at a time until he gets tired and just comes in more easily. Look up a "fish finder rig" on youtube, and try to make your leader 60- 80 pound fluorocarbon if you can get it (very expensive, just FYI.)

Hammour will eat anything on the bottom: fresh dead cuttle fish, cut ballyhoo and mullet all work well. If you can catch small live bait fish 3-5 inches long to put on the hook, they work well too, especially if they are not so healthy. Hammour are lazy and will not chase a fast fish, but will definitely eat one that looks injured or slow. I cut the tails of live bait fish to injure/slow them down and the hammour love it.

Good luck. I started on the beach a couple of years ago, but now I fish a couple of kilometers off shore in a kayak 😊 You'll want some kind of boat soon if you really get into fishing, just giving you some advanced notice 😊