Welcome from Alabama. I have only been doing this for a few months. I started by trying to make my own plaster of Paris molds and then tried making Rresin molds. Both were not up to the quality I wanted. The fish did not care but I did. Then I got a shad mold from Jann's Netcraft. Again, my pouring was not the best. Snake River convinced me to try injection molding and I promise you I can never go back to hand pouring again. Whatever method you try, be sure and read the safety stickies at the top of this forum. I burned myself a few times and I just wish I had read the safety stickies first. Be safe. Have fun. Go fish.