A portable bilge pump is definitely a must. Take and put you on 12 feet of electrical chord and alligator clips or a cigarette plug if you have the outlets installed in your boat. Six foot of hose works pretty well. I have even seen where guys will rig up the small sump pumps. They both come in handy for many uses in catfishing. Bailing out your boat is the most useful in extreme circumstances.

Secondly, most boats will not have big live wells, so using a large cooler works well. Being portable, you can shift the weight if needed. The pump is a back saver instead of using a 5 gallon bucket to fill the live well and changing water since a catfish will put out levels of ammonia. Low levels of rock salt will cure that problem also, but do not over due it as it will "puke a fish" and no use in loosing the extra weight for the weigh in scales. The bilge pump will also work in the cooler for an aerator and keep the water circulating over and around the fish giving it the oxygen level it needs.

Something else worth noting here also is to keep the fish cool in the summer time. A fish will go in shock if it is pulled off the bottom and placed in a warmer cooler. So use ice without chlorine in it is a must to estimate the temperature. My partner freezes well water that we use for this occasion. Since we catch and release at the tournament level, we try to do as much as we can to preserve everything possible. That includes trying to remember to put in the plug in our boat. Everyone has done it before and it will help on your gas mileage if you do pull it before you leave the house to drain the water out! Learned that one too the hard way. It gets to be a routine to do a quick walk around the boat before you launch it so that you don’t forget anything anyway.. Just takes a minute, but well worth it in the long run. That way you do not forget your bilge pump stashed behind your seat in the truck.. Senior Moments do happen! That is why we all need a good sense of humor!