Pointless. In California's deep lakes, just as many fish die or get screwed by getting caught in deep water during the winter as would get screwed up if they were kept in a livewell another 3 hours in the summer time.
Plus, bass are an invasive species, so who should care if they die anyway? Silly DFG. Think of all the fun we could have out fishing in July when fishing is actually good instead of dragging around 2 inch plastic worms in January.