I have two live wells and would like the pumps to run of the same switch. I would like to run them off the same wires since they will be connected to the same switch and are mounted right next to each other. I am not an electronic major so I ask, would it be better to mount them in series or parallel? I'm thinking parallel (V= I/R) v= voltage I=current r= resistance. Also with parallel if one goes out I don't loose both.

Before you use the same switch you might need one rated for higher amps, not too sure about that though. Running them parallel would be the best route if you wanted them on at the same time.

Now that I think about it, if they are connected to the same battery they are already in parallel. So I geuss it doesn't really matter. It's just a matter of having them on the same switch or not. Amps is the meassure of current so I think that will be the same since its one source. The diff is that the current will be divided in to two at the parallel across the load but will then come back to 1 at the battery. So I may loose over all power of motors, but should be the same as if I had both switched on witch I do anyways. I usually turn them on at the same time to refresh water and temp. because if one needs it I figure both need it.

Since they are 12 volt motors, you have to wire them in parallel. In series, the drop across each motor would only be 6 volts, not enough voltage to run pump. Buzz is right about the higher amp switch. In parallel, assuming the same motor on both, you're going to be pulling twice the amps through the switch. Make sure your battery-to-switch wire is big enough to handle the extra juice(livewell/bilge pumps are normally in the 2-3A range, but you might see if you can find some specs at the manufacturer's wesite), 14Ga should be good, and put a fuse (a little more than the combined amperage) in front of the switch. Also if you have a timer in the circuit, to cycle the live wells on and off(which you don't, I just re-read your reply), make sure it's rated for the current.
Good Luck.

Got everything up and running and all apears golden. I think I will wire a timer to the other switch befor long. Thanks for all the input on this small project. I checked the amps with a multi meter before and after rewiring and saw a very small change. All the specs I found were 1-10 amps on the switches, so we apear to be good. Thanks for all the advise, it was all used and realy like the outcome. Off for a three day fishin trip on Choke with a group of buds. Pray for tight lines.

my negative wire gets very hot while trolling

I had the wires melt on my old Johnson 12/24V. The 'original' wire was 12 gauge, I replaced it with 8 gauge and didn't have hot wires again. Got to looking at the MinnKota website and they have a wire gauge calculator. Tells you which gauge to use based on the run length and amp draw. The overall goal is to lose less than 1 volt due to "constrictive resistance" (not a real term). For my new motor, I've bought 4 gauge.
For a source of bigger gauge wire, I've found eBay stores to be very reasonable. The power wire for car stereo installations is super flexible and cheaper than you can find for other applications.

although im still in high school, we are learning about wiring things and going parallell is allways better, if one of the bait wells goes out the other will still run, and if they both go out at the same time then you know there is a wiring problem or your battery is dead

my trolling moror is a minn kota 55lb thrust and it has a 8 gauge wire and still gets hot under a load