Beaten back by M74

M74 in Pisces is starting to become a monster. I've been out several times with my ETX70 with no luck. I can find the spot without a problem but can't quite make out even a hint of M74, a very dim galaxy. I suspect light polution is the culprit but still haven't found a good dark site. I was able to see about 30 stars from my backyard observatory tonight. It was cool, clear, with no wind after a light rain earlier today so the seeing was pretty good. I saw about 30 stars in M45 which was also visible unaided in the eastern sky. The field around M74 in my 27 mm ep consists of a fairly bright parallelogram with Eta Psc forming one corner and a dim pair of stars including 104 Psc the opposite corner. 101 Psc and HR457 form the other two corners. Eta Psc is in line with a pair of 7th mag stars and I was able to barely make out a couple of 8th mag stars in the field. I convinced myself that I was able to occasionally make out a pinpoint of light in the vicinity of where I knew M74 lay but no hint of a glow.
M33 was also elusive although I was able to see it previously in Rolla with my 8" dob.