BBK

2.5" jerkbait would be similar to a size 7 rapala. I use #2 on those. Baits less than 2" or needing #10 or smaller hooks I drop down to a #0, 15lb ring. #1 will work also assuming you are putting #8 hooks on them.

The only way I've ever gotten a broken lip out of a bait is to soak it in acetone. You'll have to reseal the bait before painting usually. Only works on wooden or lead/metal baits.

Break open a lindy splash brite and reuse the internals inside of a crankbait body.

My old 10lb lee I had to clean all the time. I would take it apart and run a brass bristle brush chucked in a drill with a couple extensions on the plunger seat to remove gunk.. then I wire wheeled the steel plunger. It would make the pot run smooth as butter for a while. I switched to the 20lb lee a few years back and haven't had to clean it once. Never drips when up to temp and almost always smooth flow. I do have a piece of steel wire that I run up the spout from the bottom with pliers to knock out any junk in there if the flow gets restricted. Takes 3 second and back to good again. But have never even emptied the thing in the years I've owned it. I pour down to half a pot and then stop and refill until 3/4 and go again. Always refilling to 3/4 before shutting it off.

Absolutely, even when dipping outdoors. That stuff is NASTY and will get you high as a kite in a few minutes. The first time I used it (indoors without a respirator), I couldn't see the color red for about an hour and was pretty dizzy. With the proper filters you can't smell a thing. It literally takes 5 seconds to slap on the mask and if you get a well fitting one you will forget you are wearing it. I walked upstairs to get a drink of water once while painting and put the glass up to the mask.

I use a 3m 7500 series mask with the 6001 cartridges and the 5p71 dust filters over them. You can get the whole kit on amazon. mask- https://www.amazon.com/3M-Professional-Facepiece-Respirator-Medium/dp/B004HXBCMG/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=3m+7502&qid=1552505802&s=sporting-goods&sr=1-2-catcorr filter kit- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A7PCS8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use 6's for walleye. I don't like 4's, they catch too many debris on the wingdams and you dont need that big of a hook for a sauger or walleye. I use vmc 9651, same as rapala uses.

Most sterile fish breeds still spawn.. just unsuccessfully... shooting blanks so to speak. Saugeyes, wipers, tiger muskie, etc. develop eggs and go through the motions of spawning but the eggs and sperm are not viable. Where do you live? If you live down south, there is a good chance they won't do any spawn ritual if your water does not get cold. Pike spawn at 35-38 deg water temp, muskie at 55-60... I have no clue what a tiger muskie would do or when it would do it. But your local fisheries biologist working for your dnr would be able to tell you all the info you need.

The chrome and gold of a rat-l-trap are plated on. That's why it rubs off and doesn't flake off usually

You may be experiencing expansion and compression of the wood that is causing your lures to crack. CS would help with that as it doesnt dry to a hard coating like epoxy, but it will be far less durable... especially with lakers. Are you sealing your wood fully before painting? That is a crucial step for any lure, especially for something like ice fishing lakers when the lure is spending several minutes submerged at 100' plus and being reeled from bottom to top chasing the fish on the screen. I would use KBS on them, but I have not tried your specific situation so take that for what it is worth... my ice lures are a whole different class. As for temp, down that deep it will be warmer than you think. Mid 40's I'd say. Up closer to the ice the colder it gets.

I use cs seal coat or KBS on ice lures depending on style.

I've never seen a brass body over 1/2oz, to go heavier you would need to go to a lead body. http://www.lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Lead-Lure-Bodies/Lead-Lure-Bodies_2.html Blades http://www.lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/-040-Muskie/ bucktail trebles http://www.lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Dressed-Hooks/Tied-Bucktail-Treble.html

Createx white SUCKS. I quit using it. I just use reduced folk art for base coating, and us airbrush for white detail work. I also mix paint in the brush, in the front of the cup (tilt airbrush all the way forward and mix up in the cup so it doesn't run down to the needle). Seems to work well for me.

Discolored doesn't matter. If they have any powder on them, you will want to remove that.

Reducer is cheap, a little goes a long way. I use createx 4012, its $16 with free shipping for a 16oz bottle on amazon. I have a small 2oz dropper bottle that I plan to refill out of the 16oz... I don't do a lot of painting but I do paint every day, I'm still trying to empty the first 2oz fill up from a couple months ago.

You will need to collect from the states that require it. Your state for sure, plus the states like mine (Iowa) who want sales tax from anyone who sells and ships a product to here. You will also need to do the state business license/tax/fees also, even though you are not a physical location. Don't list your business as manufacturing, you are altering. If you do manufacturing you may have a state rep come knocking on your door to inspect your factory, then you will need local zoning permission and such if you live in a city.

CS lure and jig finish

I think its two colors, I thin its a violet on top and a turquoise on the cheeks. Thinned way down and just the smallest lightest spray you can do. You won't see the effect until the clear coat is on, so don't spray too much of it trying to see the colors. Createx colors.

A penetrating clear coat or head cement will hold it in place better, make sure its liquid and runny type and not UV epoxy or such that will just sit on the surface.. it needs to get down between the hairs and lock them all together. But first, be sure you are using quality bucktail and some high strength thread so you can tie it on reasonably tight, cheap tails will sometimes break when you tie tight. You can condition them with just regular hair conditioner (for humans) but be very careful that you do not get it so soft that it breaks easily. We used to soak our walleye bucktails (already tied) in shampoo with conditioner to soften the hair and make it flow better, but it also works good to do before you tie so the material is easier to work with. Takes a lot of the grease/oils off of it too that allows it to slip out from under thread, I shampoo all of my squirrel tails.. you wouldn't believe the action they have in the water after that oil is removed. I condition by squiring some shampoo with conditioner (or just conditioner) in a bowl of warm (not hot) water and mix it up real well. I soak the hair in there for 4-5 minutes or so then rinse in the sink to remove all of the shampoo. Then hang to dry so the hair is hanging natural, after a few minutes hit it with a hair dryer to fluff it so to speak so it isn't clumped up.. however the hair dries is how its going to stay so make sure its straight, even bucktail and deer/elk hair.

Most use a clear lacquer, that's why the paint chips off after a few casts.

Do you have a hygrometer in your painting/bait storage area? When I am not running my dehumidifier I can see up to 70% just from spraying water based paint, cleaning brushes with water, and other uses with water in my painting room. And this is winter time when we are running heaters almost constantly, making extremely dry air.. The rest of the house is 45% or so humidity, my painting are can go to 70% but I keep it at 50-55% with a dehumidifier. I dipped some baits outside right after it rained a couple weeks back, that was a bad idea. Bubbles bubbles and more bubbles. If I dip inside there are none. Just that few seconds (and temp change) from being outside before and while dipping did it.

Dipping speed should not have any influence on bubbles. Bubbles are caused by two things in this case (assuming your kbs isnt full of bubbles just sitting in the jar), oil or dust on the bait that is repelling the clear and trapping air, or moisture on the bait that is having a reaction with the KBS causing an off gas at the surface of the lure which causes a bubble. It's usually the second one that most people struggle with from what I have seen, usually because of painting in a high humid environment with water based paints that are not fully drying.. a couple seconds under a hair dryer does not fully dry the baits, I leave mine hanging for 12-24 hours at 50% humidity before dipping, after using a hair dryer on them when I am done painting of course.

They are legit company. I've not seen the malware warning so no clue about that. They are china though, takes a couple weeks for delivery.

Stick a tooth pick or wooden skewer through the hook eyes before the epoxy sets.

What a coincidence!