Joh Bjelke-Petersen won his final election as Premier of Queensland with an absolute majority of seats in the Queensland Parliament.

Meanwhile Jim and Pat continued selling bait and the whole box and ice. The couple has seen out 10 Prime Ministers and 16 Opposition Leaders during that time. Talking of opposition Jim says a few companies have tried to take them on in business over the years but haven’t made a dent “It’s the personal touch that wins out every day, I mean when people try to ring some of these companies you can’t talk to a real person, in contrast, here we are ready to chat face to face or answer the telephone and help you with your fishing query” he said.

If only they had more time to fish

When Jim gets in a boat, he likes hunting reef fish, Pat is more a river girl. Both would like to do a lot more fishing, but the business won’t run itself, so in one way they’re a captive to their own success “We couldn’t even get JobKeeper during the Covid Pandemic because we were so busy and doing well,” said Jim. In fact, August 2020 was the busiest month they’ve had since 1986, “We sold just about everything in the shop and had hardly anything left,” said Pat. It happened because people were rushing out to fish for something to do. Of course, the Huttons ran out of many items because of the supply chain difficulties during that time and steadily things went back to normal. But it was good while it lasted.

Ice road

Jim still does the deliveries of ice as he racks up the kilometres driving to Port Douglas down to Hartley’s Creek and up to Julatten and as far as Mount Carbine. The couple had a golden opportunity when they first opened and say they owe a huge debt of thanks to Christopher Skase. “The Sheraton Grand Resort was being built at the time and we had the contract to supply all the workers with ice for their drinks, boy was that a bonanza” said Pat “it was thirsty work” she said with a laugh. They also wanted us to give a special mention to local fuel company Marrano’s, who have been buying their ice for more years than they can remember. “Yeah, they could have gone anywhere and got their ice, but they stuck with us and supported local and we’re very grateful for that, in fact all the local business who still continue to support us on a daily basis” said Jim.

Yogi and Grumpy

Fishers Yogi and Grumpy are typical of the fishers who shop with Jim and Pat and couldn’t be more glowing in their praise of them, “They always dish out good advice and listen to our stories about the one that got away, but not all of them get away, I had this mackerel that must have been 2 metres in length”. Thanks Yogi but we’ve heard that one before. “Customers are always telling us stories of how big their catch was, sometimes its fair dinkum but mostly it’s BS” said Jim with a smile. “It all makes for an interesting chat” he said.

Going for bust

Jim and Pat have had their fair share of characters come into the shop over the years including a former Argentinean woman who left an indelible mark on their kids. “How can I put this” said Pat, “she was so well endowed to say the least and left Dolly Parton in the shade, she even told a self-effacing joke to my kids, who were quite young at the time, about her assets, I’m afraid they were never quite the same after that”.

Retirement?

So, will Jim and Pat be seeing out any more of our nation’s leaders or are they going be reeling the line in for the last time and putting the rod in the rack? “Well, we would like to travel and do a spot of fishing ourselves, but we have to build the business up like it was pre Covid and then we might look at that,” said Pat. Until then they’re on their way to 40 years of tackling any fishy problem that comes their way and doing it with a smile.

Congrats from Newsport guys.