PII compared to ZX200

[HawkDriver]

Like to know any experiences, likes/dislikes or experiences of those that have been on both. I know the cat will be a little faster.
Thanks.

[WillDaBeast]

I had a P2, my partner had a ZX200. We alternated whose boat we took out for 5 years. The Skeeter has a wider beam but at the trolling motor not much difference. The day box is great. I wish my P2 had one. Access to the bilge is bigger on the Skeeter, the small opening on the P2 sucks (more room with no oil tank now but still small). The Skeeter will be cheaper. That's about the only positives I have for the Skeeter. The fit/finish, gel coat, livewell, components, overall build quality including the trailer goes to the Cat. We helped each other wire stuff, change stuff out, work on etc., so we crawled through each others boats a lot. Yes the P2 is faster but it also handles the rougher stuff better. I had the P2 out in some nasty stuff in Texas and never felt unsafe. The Skeeter porpoise is so annoying. Nothing like trying to run a skinny creek at a slow speed and constantly have the bow bouncing up and down. If you have any questions you can DM me a phone number and I'll be more than happy talk to you. With all that said, at the end of the day try and get in both of them and see which one fits your style the most since you're the one paying for it.

[HawkDriver]

Great info, thank you

[BassCatBrad]

Good info above.. I will add the the PII is a blast to drive and the Skeeter is a bit boring.

[iron banks]

Beast gave you everything you need to know.

[HawkDriver]

Do basscats in general have wiring conduits from front to back? How easy or hard is it to rewire, change pumps, install new systems, etc. Is there room in the PII for 4 batteries and PP pumps?

[FlippinManiac]

Do basscats in general have wiring conduits from front to back? How easy or hard is it to rewire, change pumps, install new systems, etc. Is there room in the PII for 4 batteries and PP pumps?

You should have room for four batteries and pumps without the DFI tank. It’s not hard at all, just upgraded electronics myself, and have had to change a pump once. BBC does clean work and locates parts that need to be replaced in a logical spot.

[TDobb]

Do basscats in general have wiring conduits from front to back? How easy or hard is it to rewire, change pumps, install new systems, etc. Is there room in the PII for 4 batteries and PP pumps?

If you have the pony tanks for extra fuel it would be a struggle to get 4 batteries, a charger and pumps in there. I just bought an 08 PII and it does not have the pony tanks so I have a ton of space in the bilge, but the access is indeed pretty small. I have 3 batteries, a Noco Genius 3 bank, and an oil tank in mine and I could fit pumps behind my trolling batteries if I want to add a pole or two down the road. I am sure it could be done with pony tanks, it just makes everything a LOT tighter.

Running wires is pretty easy, I ran a separate 6 gauge home run to a blue sea systems fuse block under the dash on mine and then ran 10 gauge to the electronics from that point, running the wires up to the bow was pretty simple. I did however pop another hole in the electronics and pedal recess up on the bow and that made running all my wires a lot easier, and some of the plug ends needed a bigger hole to fit thru anyway.

All in all, I love the boat, once I figured out the sweet spot on the trailer for loading it made things pretty simple. The boat handles like a race car and I am just getting used to driving it but I've hit 71.4 in it so far with a full tank of fuel, heavy load of tackle, and the Ultrex and dual graphs up front.

[scotty34]

P2 will run circles around the bug boat, plus you wont have rub rails falling off after a long run. Wiring on P2 no worse then anyother boat. Fit and finish way better on the P2

[Topwater All Day]

The info above is spot on! I came out of an older ZX185 when I got my PII and my old team partner has a ZX225 that we fished out of a lot. I redid almost everything on my old Skeeter, mainly because it needed it! It really was pretty easy to work on and I did like the boat, but I had very little to base it of off. Once I got the PII it was like night and day!

The Skeeter porpoise thing mentioned above is really annoying and I tried everything to minimize it. Neither Skeeter was very fast, but they were solid and stable, really easy to drive and fished well.

My PII is like a sports car and is a blast to drive. It fishes great and is super responsive at the trolling motor. Tons of storage, great ride even in some rough stuff, extremely well built and fit & finish is excellent. The only negatives, just as mentioned above, are the small access to the bilge area and the narrow front end when you are fishing open water. I fish lakes and rivers that get a lot of wake board and pleasure boats and I've learned to get off the front when the big wakes are coming! I just step back down into the cockpit and put the trolling motor on spot lock. But I think even the larger boats have to deal with that some. Al in all, I'm very happy in the PII and I have seen why it's been such a popular boat over the years. I've had mine 3 years now and still look forward to driving it every time!!!

[HawkDriver]

Thanks for all the info, it’s either going to be a p2 or a classic with options.