Took my crankbait out and tried it a couple times and everything was fine, but when I came back to my tacklebox, the epoxy coat looked like it was peeling the paint off...what went wrong?

Here are the painting steps I took

1. Sanded

2. coated with Waterproofer

3. put primer on

4. a layer of white spray paint

5. airbrushed a pearl coat

6. olive back

7. bit of red on sides

8 epoxied

Several things could cause the problem, but most the likley is moisture under either the paint or epoxy.

What kind of sealer are you using? What primer? What epoxy?

If you are using a solvent based sealer and a waterbased paint you are pretty much doomed to failure. Sounds like you might be able to peel it off, sand and start over.

the sealant was Thompsons Water seal clear multi surface waterproofer and the epoxy is the 2 ton stuff you get at wally world. The primer is the rustoleum surface primer....I think using the water proofer is a solvent based.. how can you tell

Thompsons water seal is basically kerosene and parafin, avoid using it on your baits. Most rattle can primers and paints are solvent based. One way to tell is a solvent based will require solvent to clean up or thin, where as water based will clean up with water. Try this on a scrap piece of wood, spray a couple light coats of your primer, let dry 24 hrs. them paint and top-coat.