After owning a Ranger for years I purchased a used P II a couple of years ago after wanting one for what seemed like forever . My Ranger had a big wide front deck that I was never uncomfortable fishing off of in rough water or heavy boat traffic . With the Basscat the deck fished much smaller due to the trolling motor foot pedal tray being so far forward at the tip of the bow . I consulted a buddy who had owned a P IV about always feeling like if a wave surprised me or I ran into a stump with the trolling motor I was going to fall out over the front due to the lack of room to manuver to regain my balance . He assured me I would get used to it and wouldn't even notice after awhile . The other thing was the bow mounting location for the graph seemed to be at an awkward angle for me virtually standing right over the top of it .
Perhaps due to my advancing age (recently retired ) I don't seem to have the sea legs I used to and never could quite get used to the front deck though I loved everything else about the boat . After making the upgrade to the Ultrex unit with a Helix graph it has made a night and day difference to fishing comfortably on the front deck . If I am fishing shallow (flat ) water I can still operate the trolling motor from the tip of the bow as designed flipping/pitching or throwing reaction baits . If the water is more choppy or fishing offshore I can use spotlock or another of the ipilot link features allow me the flexibility to move back a little where the deck is wider and no longer have to stay positioned at the tip of the bow to fish .
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