Nice looking lure. I have a trick that I use on my thru wire musky baits that may help you. I lay out the pattern on a square blank trying to keep the grain in line with the length of the lure and keeping the layout straight . Then before I carve or turn on the lathe, I predrill all the holes for my thru wires. If the drill gets off course, I can start over with out having the frustration of ruining a good carve. When turning on the lathe, I use the predrilled holes for centering the stock. When carving, I run a piece of coat hanger wire thru the blank in the drilled holes to reference the center line of the bait and the profile is equal on both sides. Once the carving is done, I can be sure the holes are lined up right. I break from tradition and run my thru wire prior to painting. This has helped reduce touch ups and such after a good paint job from pliers slipping. To keep the paint off the eyes, I just cover them with masking tape. Hope this helps a bit.