I started useing cranks and like thembut need some tips on retrives i have been just throwing them out and reelin them striaght in is that the best way???

Most lures do not work when just chunkin' and windin'.  If you are fishing clear water you may want to burn it back with some jerks or stops.  If you are fishing dirty water I have found my best success by pulling the bait with the rod and allowing it to pause while I quickly reel the slack.  You really need to let the fish tell you, but most of the time I would put some erratic movement or pauses in the retrieve.

Steve

Crankbaits are deadly as contact baits, besides a variation in retrieve speed select a crankbait that ticks the tops of weeds, deflects off of stumps and laydowns or crawls around the bottom if there is no cover. The majority of the lakes that I fish have vegatation as the primary cover, I do well ripping the bait off of weeds. If I'm not in contact with various types of cover I'll frequently twitch or jerk the rod to give the bait a more erratic cadence, with certain cranks like the Rapala DT-10 if you do it right you can sometimes get the crank to face the following bass which is usually more than they can stand. When fishing deep diving cranks keep in mind that the crank is going to be at it's maximum depth for app 1/4 to 1/3 of the retrieve as the other part of the retrieve it's either ascending or descending, so it's important if you are trying to hit a deep target to cast as far as you can and that your boat is the right distance from the target (for  example app 40' away on a 120' cast). Another good approach that keeps your bait in the strikezone for a longer period is to cast into to deep water and bring your bait uphill at different angles, this is particularly effective at times when fishing points. Last but not least look at different models of cranks as tools, you'll want cranks that can be fished on the surface to ones that run 15' deep or more and also those in between depths. Good luck and beware, crankbait fishing can be addictive.