I will share with you the answer I replied with at the outdoors forum.

Let's have a general understanding. The female bass is a little hussies. She
swims along the first major breakline and waits for a suitable male to come
a courting. If she feels he is worthy, she swims to his nest and lays some
of her eggs and then off she goes to let him guard the nest while she goes
and waits for another suitable male to come along. She will continue laying
her eggs in serveral nests until she has laid all of her eggs. She does this
to ensure at least some of her babies will survive.

So while there is a lot of stress on the smaller male bass during spawn, the
female's stress level is a lot less. She can also be pulled and released
miles away from the nest in which she was caught with no harm being done,
because the male is the one who guards the nest. She will probably go, after
being released, to the next spawning area and flirt with those males.

The cool thing about pro's is that they don't play with a fish. They
typically use heavier line, bigger rods, and horse a fish into the boat as
fast as they can, while it is the Am using light line and tackle that play
with a bass too long. They don't do it on purpose, they just don't have the
equipment or skills. They just hold on until the fish gets tired, and this
is what kills or injures a fish. Because all the muscles in a fish secretes
an acid (latic?) that can cause temporary paralysis, opening the fish up to
attack by other fish or animals. If serverly stressed this acid can destroy
her eggs.

So if you are going to fish a spawning nest, know that the smaller male
protects the nest so don't fish for them. If you are going to catch a big
female, have the equipment to pull her in as fast as you can. But better
yet, fish along the first major breakline and concentrate your efforts on
the bigger females, and those bass in pre or post-spawn mode.


--
Craig Baugher
Living in The United States, and Loving It!
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