newbie here! gone squidding a couple times but want to step up my

[xxoczukxx]

hi all im new to the forum!

 

so originally i was using just a rod that i usually used for fishing in lakes and such but its been a good 6 years since ive been fishing and started up again. i went to a pier with lots of squid and like stripers and decided to to some squid fishing, so i bought a few jigs and went at it. the first night i went i learned from people there and got about 20 squid in 9 hours (fished basically all day into the night, around 2 am). today i went out to walmart and bought a cheap shakespeare durango rod with a cheap reel from my friends rod because my other one was kinda heavy. after 5 hours i only got 4 squid and im a bit disappointed. 

 

so i have a few questions:

 

1.) are the led lights that like attach onto your fishing like any good? or should i just stick with like a spotlight i see people have. the problem is i cant afford a spotlight right now, and since the season is ending soon i dont find it worth.

 

2.) what is the best rod/reel under like $50 for squidding? i was looking as these penn graphite rods at walmart that were insanely light and felt great but the rod alone was $60 and i didnt really want to drop that at the time :/ i am going to save up and pay a bit more for a good rod but i dont want to spend too much

 

3.) how do i know the line hits the bottom of where im fishing? people say you can feel it but i let my line go and go and i feel like it never hits (fishing on a pier, in the ocean by the way) 

 

4.) what kind of technique is best? ive just been dropping my line and occasionally doing the upward flick thing i was told to do

 

any answers to these or general tips would be great thanks guy!