The temptation is to progress your first creation right to the end, with a fabulous paint job and a nice glossy top coat. Only to find that it swims like a pigs tail and is only good for the display cabinet.
If you did this, you would not be the first, I did it as did many of the members here. In fact, if the first one works, either you have done your homework or it is a fortunate occurance.
There are lots of features that can be adjusted to affect the performance of the built lure, the main ones being eye location, lip size, weight position. Two of these can be adjusted at the waters edge, namely lip size and eye position.
By making the lip larger than you think is correct, it can be trimmed down with simple hand tools, I invested in a battery Dremel drill, this makes the job very easy. The second adjustment, the eye position, can be achieved by making the eye loop stick out about 3/8 inch. It looks ugly, but we are only dealing with a prototype. You will be amazed at the effectof bending the eye up or down.
When it swims how you want it, you can go back to the workshop and build your first lure with confidence.
The next tip is to keep notes of every thing, the adjustments, lip measurements and there effects. Don't throw the failures away, sit and stare at them until you know exactly what went wrong. If you cannot work it out, post a pic and ask for help.
The best tip of all, is to have fun. If it is not your style, none of the above is compulsory. ENJOY.