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	Podcast:		Local Features by WXPR
	Episode:		One of the Best Fishing Lures in America Is Made in Antigo Using Squirrel Tails
	Category:		Government & Organizations
	Duration:		00:05:49
	Publish Date:		2019-07-05 05:00:00
	Description:		We continue our We Live Up Here series this week with a story of a family-owned fishing lure manufacturer in Antigo that uses squirrel tail hair on their famous Mepps spinners. Jim Skibo has the story. “Squirrel Tails Wanted,” reads the sign on highway 45 in Antigo. If you have traveled down that road, you might have wondered, like me, who buys squirrel tails? It turns out that squirrel hair is one of the essential pieces of MEPPS spinners, one of the most popular fishing lures in the world. The lures, 3 to 5 million per year, have been made in Antigo since the 1950s by the Sheldon family. Mike Sheldon, current President of the company, says his father, Todd, first became aware of MEPPS spinners shortly after WWII. According to Mike, a GI came home from France with a few MEPPS spinners, which he passed onto his dad, Todd, who then owned a retail sporting business. He threw them in his tackle box until one day he was out fishing and not having any luck. So he gave the spinners a try and
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