I like to tell a story about when I won the pool on a tuna trip on a head boat.

In the days before the trip, my friend, one of the most veteran anglers at the fishing, who worked at the same magazine as me, kept me awake into the small hours of the night, to net baitfish to keep live on the boat.

The tide was right then.

Problem was, I awoke in the small hours of the morning each of those days to work.

By the time I boarded the trip, I was wasted, and had to jump in my berth and sleep a moment.

With tuna biting all around the boat.

“How do these guys sleep?” I heard a mate say, walking past.

However, I had just nailed a yellowfin tuna that would end up winning me more than $200 for the trip’s largest fish.

That live bait paid off, and my friend knew its importance.

Engel, the maker of some of the best coolers, has introduced the Live Bait Cooler.

Available in 30-, 19- and 13-quart sizes, the cooler is made to keep bait live, from minnows to squid, for fishing on freshwater to the ocean.

A 2-speed air pump, running on two D-size batteries, keeps the water oxygenated.

Use high speed when full of bait, and low speed later to conserve batteries.

A 12-volt adapter can be used to run the pump from a cigarette lighter in a car or boat overnight, the company says, to keep the bait for the trip.

My friend used to set his alarm clock every few hours in the middle of the night, waking up to check his bait in a homemade livewell, in the bed of his pickup truck.

The whole season.

I was almost more impressed with his wife for tolerating that.   

The cooler’s insulation is meant to protect the “expensive bait,” the company says, in extreme temperatures, whether in summer or winter.

I would say that sometimes effort to catch bait, not just money to buy it, counts as expense.

That bait can be expensive.

Why would you spare any expense to store it?

Anyway, I woke up and boated another yellowfin or two on the live bait.

Plus, I didn’t even pay for the trip, because my friend got me aboard free.

I made money on the trip, instead of spending.

That’s why I usually tell the story. 

That and because my friend is a nut.

Wow.

Someone should get him that cooler.

For more info, visit Engel’s Web site.