Holding fish upside down?

[Scotty P.]

So after a short day of fishin' on Saturday I was talking to a couple of older guy's around the camp and the subject of removing hooks from fish came up. I was telling them that I wish it was easier to get a hold of hooks in fish that are still full of fight when one of them told me to "just pick the fish up and hold it upside down and then remove the hook". He told me that being held upside down disorients the fish and they stop fighting completely making it easy to grab the hook. Has anyone here trie or heard of this before? Does it work? Is it at all harmfull to the fish? I want to make sure this isn't going to cause any damage to the fish as I primarily catch and release. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

[Okotokian]

upside down or on side. Supposed to calm them a bit.

[densa44]

That is how I always get the fly back from a trout.

[bowness]

Gravities force has more affect on a large mass (say a big chinook salmon) and a fishes morphology is not designed to be held with all that force acting on a few vertebrae that you have held is your hand. I have heard that you should not hold larger trout/salmon by the tail alone. If you cradle it with one hand around the pectorals and the other holding the tail it spreads the forces. I have personally felt the vertebrae of large salmon crack and separate as I was holding them (not for release).
That being said holding smaller trout may not have enough force to pull the vertebrae apart. I think the best thing is to take the fish out of the water the least possible and be as fast as possible without causing bleeding.

[the local angler]

i believe holding the fish upside down is called tonic imobility. not sure of the correct spelling. i have also done this and it sorta works most of the time. lol