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How to Cut Out Designs for Painting Wood Fishing Lures

Wooden fishing lures or crank baits used to be standard fishing equipment. Just as with wooden hunting decoys, modern synthetics have taken their place. And, just like wooden decoys, old wooden fishing lures have become highly prized by collectors, spurring new interest in making them for decor as well as fishing. Rather than being hand-painted, the lures are often painted with stencils made from paper, or tape. Even tin foil is used to create patterns in the paint -- and they are deceptively simple.

Things You'll Need

Printer and paper
Tracing paper
Fine-tipped marker
Craft knife
Painter's tape
Card stock
Tin foil
Scissors

Instructions

Making a Flat Template
- 1
  Design, download or copy your masking design. You can trace over an existing lure using tracing paper. If you download a pattern, it doesn't have to be designed specifically for a lure. If it looks appropriate to you, use it. There's some experimentation involved in painting lures.
- 2
  Print your pattern onto a piece of heavy paper, unless you choose to draw or trace it. With a fine-tipped marker, fill in the areas where you want to paint -- leaving the the other areas white or paper-colored.
- 3
  Cut out the solid areas with a craft knife. Use a good cutting surface, like a sheet of card stock beneath your stencil. Take your time and never pull the blade toward your fingers; remember, the blade tip can accidentally slip out of the material you're cutting.
- 4
  Punch the scrap pieces through, revealing your pattern. With your craft knife, clean up any rough areas where the pieces tore out or left frayed paper.
- 5
  Hold your template in front of your lure and fix it in place with tape. The template will not make contact with the lure; it will just be close. Spray the template lightly with spray paint. The flat template will translate light through a window pane onto the lure -- distorting it as the angle changes from the template around the radius of the lure. You can use this effect intentionally.
Making a Curved Template
- 6
  Mold tin foil to the outside of your lure. As an optional step, you can cover the tin foil with strips of painter's tape, making it more rigid and durable.
- 7
  Mark your pattern on the outside of your curved template with a fine-tipped marker. You can use a flat template to aid you in transferring the pattern or draw it freehand.
- 8
  Cut out the the pattern with your craft knife while the template is still on the lure. Pick the scrap pieces out with the tip of your knife and discard them.
- 9
  Paint over the template. This curved, form-fitting template will give you an easy-to-use and reuse template for many, many lures.

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