As far as I know, yo-yoing is perfectly legal. It targets big bass, well above the 34" commercial minimum. Those fish aren't going to be intentionally released anyway. The problem is breaking one off, as was apparently the case with your friend's. I don't know how much harm the weight causes---but I have cleaned a number of bass over the years that had ingested rocks.
It can cause problems for guys at tournament weigh-ins. Rumor has it that a well known MV charter captain was DQ'd on a Derby winning fish because a yo-yo weight was inside when the Committee opened it up. I also hear it won him a 5 year suspension.
|