Losing a lot of hooks and sinkers...help?

[sonicsink]

The small ponds and lakes I used to fish at had sandy bottoms, so I have never had this problem before, but they have been bought up and become private, and I don't really feel like being arrested for trespassing.

The bottoms I'm fishing now are rocky, weedy, and who knows what else is down there. I find I've been getting caught on rocks and stuff and ending up having to pull so hard, my line snaps. Just yesterday between my son and I, I think we lost about 6 hooks and sinkers.

Is this a normal thing for shore fishers? or is there a different way I can be rigging up our lines to avoid this?

Thanks!