SECTION THREE
A L L U R E O F T H E TA I L
by Dave Mull
“It was not easy flinging that little spinner...but it was worth the effort.”
PHOTO COURTESY DAVE MULL/FACEBOOK
J
ust remember, no Mepps lure is worth dying for.
Well, except for a squirrel. (which we called mud bass back then) to pumpkinseeds,
grass pike and largemouth bass.
With that thought, let’s talk about a program that
Sheldon’s Inc. has had for more than 50 years that
encourages squirrel hunters to send in squirrel tails. And the spinner had to be the one with the fur tail.
The alternative “0” spinner had a red tube on the treble
and didn’t work at all. It was not easy f linging that
little spinner with a push-button Zebco reel, which was
probably spooled with 10-pound test monof ilament,
but it was worth the effort.
In return, the guys who send in the squirrel tails get
either cash or credit towards new Mepps Lures. Of
course the company wants to get tails from squirrels
that were ethically harvested by licensed sportsmen and
strongly discourage killing squirrels just for the tails.
The folks at Mepps have found that no other fur works
as well for the tails on some models of their spinners.
Tied to a treble hook, the fur pulses in some manner
that f ish f ind irresistible – no doubt those spinners
dressed with tail fur have caught lots and lots of f ish
over the years.
I remember when I was a little guy, like 6 or 7 years old,
hanging out on the pier at my grandparents’ cottage.
Somehow I got hold of the smallest “0” size Mepps
with a squirrel tail dressing, and that lure caught all
sorts of f ish, ranging from bluegills and warmouth
Back to the f irst sentence of this story. While Sheldon’s
gets loads of squirrel tails from avid squirrel hunters,
the company also gets lots of tails from at least one guy
who doesn’t shoot them.
A charter captain friend of mine participates in the
squirrel-tail-for-lures tradeout and sends in loads of
squirrel tails each year. In fact, he might be one of
the biggest suppliers for the Wisconsin-based lure
company.
My friend will remain nameless since he doesn’t
want a lot of people to know about his tail-collecting
enterprise. He does want to caution anyone thinking of
taking up the hobby that they have to be very careful
Volume 02 No. 04 | 2018