Tackle excise tax is a bit confusing (or invisible) to most folks because unlike income, sales, and other taxes it is levied on the manufacturer, importer, or legal owner of the product and (normally) passed on down the sales chain. In the OP's case, the manufacturer of the baits will pay the tax, factor into the cost and pay the tax,....unless the manufacturer makes a bait (or any other product) to the wholesalers specs and is proprietary, in this case the wholesaler will pay the tax. There are a bunch of other scenarios when the transactions are more complex, but it's N/A in this case. As has been suggested, check with the IRS and seek legal advise, don't go by what folks on the InterWeb (even those that might be a fantastic fisherman with almost 40 years of sporting goods retailing) say.