Boats at the Lake County Fall Boat Show

Pontoons are the most popular family boat on northern Illinois lakes, and they are the heart of the show floor at the Lake County Fall Boat Show. Instead of driving from dealer to dealer, you can walk deck to deck and compare seating layouts, tube capacities, upholstery and pricing in a single afternoon at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake.

A tritoon is a pontoon with a third tube and lifting strakes — and that extra tube changes everything: higher horsepower, better handling in chop, and the confidence to cross big, busy water like the Chain O'Lakes. If you boat on the Chain, Lake Marie or any large northern Illinois lake, a tritoon deserves a hard look, and the Lake County Fall Boat Show is where you can compare several in one place.

Wake boats and surf boats are the most technology-dense boats on the water: ballast systems, wake-shaping hardware, surf tabs and tower accessories all differ brand by brand. The Lake County Fall Boat Show gives northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin wakesurf families a rare chance to see current-year towboats — including Malibu — on display in one building, with dealer reps on hand to walk you through every system.

Between the Chain O'Lakes, the Fox River and the walleye and panfish waters scattered across Lake and McHenry counties, northern Illinois anglers run every kind of fishing boat — and the Lake County Fall Boat Show puts several of them within walking distance of each other. Participating brands include Crestliner, with welded-aluminum and fiberglass multi-species hulls on the show floor.

The bowrider is the classic first fiberglass boat: an open bow for passengers, a swim platform at the back, and enough spirit for tubing and afternoon cruising. At the Lake County Fall Boat Show, you can walk the show floor and compare bowriders from participating brands — including Chaparral's SSX series — back to back, which is nearly impossible to do at individual dealerships.