Hey Newbie,
Fishing with live baits of rocks with a 12 foot ro an thread line is asking for trouble.
You will either get spooled, ruin your equipment, break your back or all of these.
Get yourself a TLD 25 an something like a Live Fibre LBG Rod.
Then get out there with someone to teach you the art of controlling your bait's direction etc.
There is a lot more to it than you might think..