Only reason I don't fish out of season bass is because I don't want to pay a fine, otherwise if I am in a trout hole looking for trout and 3-4 lb bass keep smoking my fly (opener) then screw it I'll have some fun, bet you if there's a pile of bass there, there is one or two trout (there was this time). There are so many bass around, no shortage, I have never had trouble finding bass to catch, and they eat all the trout eggs. If it were me personally, if buddy wanted to keep fishing em I wouldn't care, I would laugh my head off if MNR came on their own or someone elses accord though haha.
Having bred bass previously and kept them for long periods of time (peacock, legal) I can tell you one thing they are much more ballsy than we give them credit for. I am willing to bet that you pull that sucker in after a short fight, let him go properly, he will be right back on that reed chasing in less than 5 minutes, sometimes instantly. A little sprint won't stop him considering hes already in a marathon, and extremely pissed off and horny at the same time. Just treat properly as we do and move/use something else after a reasonable amount of time lol.