Retrieving: Retrieve the Yamamoto PsychoDad just like you would a jig or worm. When casting on a Carolina or Texas rig, you can drag, crawl, or hop the bait. If you are flipping, pitching, or punching, let the bait fall, then quiver it on the bottom or yo-yo it up and down. The arms and legs are quite thin and allow for some nice action with just light rod tip movements.

One unique aspect of this bait is the action it displays as it sinks. As the PsychoDad plummets to the bottom, the four legs come alive and fiercely kick with a ton of fluttering movement. The movement is extremely frantic in appearance, and is something that likely drives bass nuts!

The chubby claws wave around on the fall and float up a bit when the bait is on the bottom. The thin, limber arms accentuate the movement of the claws so that they are allowed to move with increased freedom when you twitch and hop the PsychoDad.

Durability: Unfortunately, the biggest downfall of the PsychoDad is its durability. The real issue here is with the softness of the plastic. There's no debating that a bait made with softer plastic will produce better action and generate more bites. What's a bit perplexing is why would a bait designed with an emphasis on punching be made so brittle? Both flipping and punching are techniques that demand the most out of the angler and his or her equipment, and in my opinion the PsychoDad is simply too weak to hold up to both the techniques and the fish. The bait tears easily, even in the tail section where the plastic is the most dense. It's not uncommon to only get one or two fish out of a single bait before it's too tattered to be fished properly.

It was sometimes a challenge keeping the PsychoDad weedless, especially when fishing really thick cover. Regardless of hook style, I found it best to use one with a shorter distance from the eye (or bait-keeping barb) to the point. This allowed the point to be inserted into the solid portion of the body ahead of the rattle chamber. Though this worked best for me, in rougher situations the soft plastic still didn't hold and protect hook points like I had hoped. If you use a larger hook and rig it so the point is inside the hollow rattle cavity, the point will wear through this thin plastic in short order. After several frustrating experiences, I found myself using the PsychoDad by itself only in open waters or areas with light cover where I could fish it Texas rigged on a 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG offset-shank worm hook. I simply do not recommend this bait for anything heavy-duty.

Price & Applications: TackleWarehouse.com sells a pack of five Yamamoto PsychoDads for $5.19. Do the math on that, and you'll see that these baits aren't exactly a stellar value. If you factor in the mediocre durability, you'll easily find yourself flying through a pack or more per day during a good bite.

Application-wise, the PsychoDad has a variety of uses. It can be Texas or Carolina rigged, fished as a jig or chatterbait trailer, or used alone on a jig head. You can punch, flip, pitch, or cast it from the bank out to however deep you please. I personally favored this bait as a jig trailer since it's sized perfectly for this application and the buoyant claws always add some unique action behind the skirt. Each bait also experienced a longer lifespan when fished as a trailer, however they still got beat up pretty quickly once the fish started chomping.

 
There's no doubt bass do love the PsychoDad!

Conclusion: At first, I was caught up in the hype of these baits and nearly placed an order for several packages right after their release. Like any new item that comes on the market, it's best not to get caught up in all the buzz because sometimes the product simply isn't what you envisioned. The Yamamoto PsychoDad is a sweet looking bait, but unfortunately it left me a bit disappointed out on the water. While I have baits I favor more for punching, flipping, and pitching, I can see myself keeping a couple packs around for jig trailer use or lighter-duty situations. We think the Yamamoto PsychoDad has a ton of potential and we'd like to see it redesigned to increase overall durability.

Looking for the Yamamoto PsychoDad? Try Tackle Warehouse