I just moved near the ocean, and would like to take up surf and pier fishing. Where do I start?

For pier fishing, live bait works very well. If you are after flounder, they are a bottom fish, so you’ll need a weight on your line to get the bait down to the bottom. Best thing to do is keep your eyes open for people landing the fish you are after and look at their rigs and bait. Unless there is a competition going on, you’ll find that most fishermen will gladly offer up their opinions on how best to catch specific fish and avoid others. They’ll even show you the proper knots, hooks, weights, rigs and precisely how to hook your bait. And since tangled lines can be expected on crowded piers, the experienced guys will jump in to handle them (particularly if they believe the catch is on their hook, or don’t want their line cut or stretched) . Good luck and have fun!
PS: Welcome to fluther and don’t forget to get a fishing license if required in your locale (and read and understand the rules and regulations).