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Newbie to this forum and making lures. I enjoy both fishing and making things. I found the art of wood lure making through a web search and was amazed at the beautiful lures craftsmen are turning out. I have a fairly well equipped shop and have made things for many years in wood, plastic and metal. Lure making interests me not only as a means of making a lure for fishing but also and make a lure as a piece of "art" or more accurately craftwork. I am in the process of setting up a small 12' boat for trolling with the target being Finger Lakes trout/salmon. Most of what I will use as bait will be spoons but I am also interested in trolling wood plugs/lures. I'll be using downriggers as well as flat lining with the possibility of using dipsey divers. Fly fishing with small poppers for black bass at Sodus bay and chasing pike/muskie on the St Lawrence river also interest me. Much of lure making looks straight forward to me from what I have read in books and based on my shop experience. For me, surface texture and painting/finishing are the mystifying aspects of making beautiful and durable lures. Though I have had and used air brushes for a long time but don't consider myself skilled with their use. I have seen some beautiful surfaces on lures and wonder precisely how they are achieved. CNC routing out of rough lures interests me mainly because I built a CNC router a while back and it is sitting idle now. At this point in time I am exploring the possibilities, techniques, materials, designs, etc. I look forward to following this forum and learning about the art and craft!