You can always try Shipfinder.com which is a boat tracking website. Shows a map of the Pacific Ocean, coast, Catalina and San Clemente islands and so forth. Little boat icons show where ALL the boats are in the ocean and by putting your cursor over the little boat icon, it will give you the name as well as other boat info. You can also change the map to a satellite map which will still show the boat icons but will give you the topography of the ocean floor. Its helpful to see where there is a rise in elevation. Most boats will fish right where the elevation begins/ends or in the "canyon" between the peaks....based on the current pushing up on them bringing in bait which the predator fish will wait/ambush the bait there.

Try adding a secondary stinger hook or a smaller hook size.

Shimano makes a quality product yet Penn is coming back with its own quality gear to compete with Shimano. (i.e. the Fathom reels) I believe that the Penn has lost a bit of confidence in the fishing community and they are trying hard to win back customers. I am not familiar with the Squall series but I would think to give the Penn another look. Then there is the patriot in me that wants to buy American...

There's a YouTube guy on a site called "Fishin' and Stuff" and he has a lot of fishing hacks that are cheap and work well for freshwater and saltwater. He reminds me of Larry the Cable guy. Entertaining and informative. He's got tackle box solutions and much more.

That's a fair price. Relentless has a good reputation. Actually, most boats out of there are good choices. Is the trip still available?

If you are worried about if the knot will flow through the eyes of your rod , have your leader the length from the tip of your rod to however much line you need to cast. That way, there will not be an issue of your line catching on the eyelets.

Try wetting the spool (saltwater/freshwater) first to make the unspooling of your line smoother. Dry line may catch and cause a snag.