Hooked on fishing: Grissom holds state record
The late-June day in 1977 when Thelma Grissom and her husband Raymond went fishing at Fall Creek Falls Creek started out like many other days for the couple, but the memory of the day may never quite subside.
For any other outing, they might have set out to enjoy the peacefulness of calm waters, catch a few fish and maybe take the catch home to eat as the sun set.
But that day, Thelma caught a fish that could never be eaten, at least not by any self-respecting fisherman. It was a three-pound bluegill sunfish – still listed as the state record.
According to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, one person tied the record in 1987 after catching a bluegill in a pond in Bledsoe County, but no one has beaten the record.
Just before Thelma’s big catch, Raymond was having his own previously-caught prize fish mounted. However, what was on the end of Thelma’s fishing pole would provide friends the opportunity to affectionately tease Raymond in comparison. Grissom remembers her husband received “sympathy cards” after she caught it.
“You think you’ve got a whale, the way they fight,” she said of the fish, noting she at first thought she had a catfish on the end of her pole. But this one was full of eggs (the reason for its weight) and didn’t fight as much as usual when Raymond pulled it into the boat, she said.
“He just laid it over the boat and said, ‘Boy, I never saw one that big in my life.'”
The couple took the fish to Crossville to have it weighed and properly recorded. Thelma was featured in Tennessee Wildlife magazine and received a lot of attention for the catch.
While anyone would enjoy such attention, it’s so surprise Grissom caught a record fish. Her love of fishing began as a child.
She can remember learning how to fish from an uncle who would take her to the banks of the Caney Fork River, where the couple eventually moved in 1963.
Grissom, who is a native of Warren County who worked for McMinnville Garment Factory for 30 years, was revisiting her roots.
“He loved to fish so well,” she said of her uncle and her education in the sport (learning to be quiet) that began when she was about 7. “He would go through the fields and it would rain, and he’d take his umbrella. He said he’d go through the fields to keep the neighbors from thinking he was crazy – fishing in that rain.”
Later, she married Raymond, who fortunately, also loved to fish.
Today, a wall in her home is lined with old lures. A lunker’s club certificate and the couple’s mounted fish, including her husband’s much smaller one, hang on another wall.
It’s apparent fishing is still a meaningful part of her life. Grissom believes it’s not only enhanced her live, but prolonged it.
“We’d come in from work and fish awhile and that just rested us more than anything. I think it helps you feel better and relax and it’s just something I enjoy doing,” she said.
Thelma is approaching 90 this week and doesn’t fish as much as she used to, but finds enjoyment in attending sporting and church-related events. After all this time, people still remember her for it, even though she has given much of her record-related memorabilia away over the years.
“A lot of people say when they meet me, ‘You’re the one who caught the big fish,'” she added.