Hey Fly Guys, They’re Finally Making Powerbait Nymphs

The other day a box arrived in my office from Berkley, and I knew right away it was their annual sample of some of the new items they’ll release at the ICAST trade show this summer. Opening this box is always exciting, as Berkley comes up with some wild stuff. But of all the cool new baits in the package, none gave me pause quite like the Atomic Mite. I studied it, removed one from the bag to truly understand what a 1/80-oz. jighead feels like in your hand, and thought, my word…Berkley is making nymphs.

Truth be told, Powerbait Atomic Mites are going to be marketed as panfish lures, but I’ve yet to find jigheads or soft-plastics quite so small. I’d venture to guess that a 1/80-oz. jighead is not that far off in weight from a standard tungsten beadhead. And if you look at the shape of the Atomic Mite, you can’t tell me it wouldn’t do a pretty good job of matching just about any aquatic emerger in a trout stream. The packaging recommends fishing this bait below a small split-shot under a bobber. Replace “bobber” with “strike indicator” and what kind of rig do you have?

So am I telling you this because I’ve just found my new favorite “fly?” No, but would you think less of me if I stashed a few in my fly box for when the going got really tough? The argument about what makes a fly a fly is old, but I’ve heard more than one person tell me that the only thing that crosses the line is the element of scent. Do you agree? Regardless of whether you nymphed an Atomic Mite on the long rod, or fired it under some overhanging limbs with an ultra-light spinning rod, the design is intriguing and I’m willing to be it’ll crush some trout.