Pretty new to Bass fishing, having some problems!

[IowaBasser]

Nice Job!

When landing a fish, don't try to hoist him out of the water. Once you've got him reeled up close enough to shore, reach down and grab him by the lip. In the water, the fish's weight it supported by the water. Think of it this way: you can easily reel in a floating log that may weigh 20 pounds or more - because it is floating all you need to do is apply steady pressure and pull it closer to you. But try to lift that log out of the water and suddenly all of the weight is on your line and likely to snap.
You said, "The entire bottom of the lake is like a forest!" ...A rubber worm is a great bait. You just need a little practice getting a feel for it. Cast it out, and let it sink on tight line or a very slow retrieve. It is important to keep a relatively tight line. When you feel it touch the tops of the weeds, give the tip of your rod a little "pop" or short jerk. It should move your worm a foot or two closer to you and upward... then start your slow retrieve again. It might take some time to be able to feel the weeds - that will come with just a little experience. Another way to tell when your lure hits the tops of the weeds is to watch your line. If you are letting your worm slowly sink, when it reaches the weeds your line will go slack. (Though by the time you see your line go slack, you will probably already be caught up in them.) Again, give it a sharp, short jerk... you are trying to quickly pull your worm out of the weeds before it gets in too deep. You want to keep the worm just ABOVE the weeds so any bass IN the weeds can see it... your quick "pops" also can rip free of some weeds before you get too hung up. I like to this by keeping my rod-tip at about 10:00, or 30 degrees above horizontal. Your "pops" can bring your rod tip up to 11:00...

Another alternative is a slow twitching retrieve. I do this a lot - the object of my twitches are not so much to give the worm action, but to feel what (if anything) is on the worm. If I feel a weed, I give a sharp harder jerk - trying to rip through it. Again I keep my rod at about 10:00 - and if I feel what I think is a fish, I lower my rod-tip below horizontal WHILE reeling in a little slack …and then WHAM - set the hook! As Kevin (the proprietor of Bassfishin.com) says, hook-sets are free, and should be used accordingly! In other words, it's better to set a hook on a weed than to not set a hook on a fish.

The great thing about fishing with lures is the ability to feel the fish take your bait… it’s much more exciting than watching a bobber go down!

Keep up the good work!