Try wiring your automatic washdown pumps (switch included) entirely in the stern. It helps in two ways:

1) More power! Shorter wire runs means more juice to the pump motor.
2) No bloody footprints going forward when you forget to turn on the pump before a slaughter—and you will forget. How many times have you done the old “OK, whomever has the least bloody feet please go forward and turn on the pump”? Answer: Never, because nobody uses proper English (whomever) on the water LOL.

Here is a cool way to wire the thing. It has two lights (LEDs): an amber one to tell you the switch is on, and a red one to tell you the pump is running. Be sure to mount the switch and LEDs above or below knee height so you don’t whack them (or your knee) when fighting a fish.

With this setup, you can look back from the helm and see the status of the washdown pump. There are three conditions depending on what you see:

1) No lights: The switch is off.
2) Amber light only: The switch is on, but the motor is not running (meaning the system is at pressure and in “standby mode”.) This lowers the sphincter factor if you run with the washdown pump on or forget to turn it off.
3) Amber and red lights: The switch is on and the pump is running (read: water is flowing and cause for alarm).

Here is the schematic:

Kurt