Heavy,
I commend you for your efforts at trying to not take bass off beds, none of us really like to do that. Sometimes in spring tournaments we may be forced to. The impact on the fishery is still up for debate whether or not the fish will spawn or not.
In spring, not all bass spawn and they don't all spawn at the same time. In some large lakes, the shallow end of the lake, usually the headwaters, will warm first, those bass may spawn while the bass at mid-lake and lower lake are still in pre-spawn. Then as the lakes water temperatures warm fish at mid- to lower end of the lake will spawn. Don't be overly concerned if you catch afew pre-spawn bass, if released they usually will continue their spawn ritual. As for a trophy bass, if I catch one full of eggs and really want to keep it to mount, I will, this doesn't happen often enough to hurt any fishery. Mostly I simply take a picture and have it enlarged, replicas are a bit pricey for me. It is still my contention that the truly great spawners are between two and five pounds, smaller fish don't have that many eggs and really large fish eggs may not be very fertile, my opinion only. Have fun and keep those great questions coming. Johnnie
