thats a lot of great advice guys. thanks a lot. i was fishing it on the trunk of a fallen tree and the bass would come from under the tree and pick it up. It was quite a site. i think buying a rod specificly for crankbaiats is out of the question for right now but i will replace the hooks and possibly use florocarbon. Now i have one more question and this is going to sound even more noobish but oh well, i have to learn somehow. How can i tell the difference between weeds and bass? they both load up the line the same way to my untrained eyes...