As I checked the spec sheet on a boat Wednesday on the opening day of the Chicago Boat Show, a woman joined me in reading, then motioned frantically for her husband. The show price had dropped below a million dollars from the list price.
It’s kickoff for outdoors show season. The Boat Show (chicagoboatshow.com) moved to a new home at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. The Tinley Park Fishing, Travel & Outdoor Expo (tinleyfishexpo.com) moved a month earlier to the Tinley Park Convention Center.
The Boat Show
The Boat Show is about dreams and fantasies as much as the boats themselves, about lifestyle as much as the boat itself.
The 93rd version of Chicago’s most venerable show packed its new home with 460 boats. Next year, I have to visit on a move-in day to see the boats shoehorned in.
I needed work to navigate the show because of the new space and layout, but the boats and usual highlights are there.
‘‘I think the shift [to Rosemont] is very beneficial, especially for people around the [Fox Chain O’Lakes],’’ said Colt Rogers, who was from The Boat House in Johnsburg and was working the Godfrey Pontoons area.
The Chain is a big boating market in the Chicago area. From there, it is a short hop down the Tri-State, rather than navigating for more than an hour to downtown.
‘‘It looks like a lot of brands and retailers came,’’ Rogers said.
Pontoons, from moderately priced ones to one listing for a quarter of a million dollars, are again a major part of the show. Rogers pointed to the draw of simplicity and low maintenance, combined with the newer ones being able to ‘‘go 40 [or] 50 mph,’’ a remarkable change.
‘‘They found their own niche,’’ said Rogers, who noted that though pontoons travel faster, ‘‘You can still get your family into the boat. The thing with pontoons, they’re changing every year. That’s what sets Godfrey apart.’’
If you enjoy taking your shoes off and exploring a big yacht, there were plenty of options. The 43-foot Pursuit that CenterPointe Yacht has on display is Queen of the Show. But there are options at the other end economically, including fishing boats.
There’s a trout pond, Fred’s Shed, bumper boats, a paddlefest pool, a bags tournament and a beach club, plus a personal favorite: the Antique & Classic Boat Society’s Blackhawk chapter area.
I had a chance to chat with Kyle Zugel, the assistant lockmaster at the Chicago Harbor Lock. He said 80,000 vessels went through the lock last year, up from 75,000 in 2023.
Asked what boaters could do to make lock passage smoother, he said, ‘‘The more patient you are, the easier it is to move.’’
That particularly applies to people clustering around the entrances to the lock instead of waiting in the adjacent areas.
‘‘A lot of people are doing the Great Loop, and this is different than other locks,’’ he said.
The Tinley Expo
I caught up with Erik Brztowski of Chasing Trophies, who was talking with bass-fishing partner Ryan Whitacre in the TightRope Fishing booth on opening day Friday for the Tinley Park Fishing, Travel & Outdoor Expo.
It was the first time I met Brztowski in person after writing about him beginning when he was in high school. Now he is focused on catching big sturgeon and flathead catfish and working toward their conservation.
I met Mike Zigtema of Zigtema Timeless Taxidermy in Beecher. His work stopped me with a beautifully mounted 10-point buck, taken in Will County, paired with a well-done pheasant mount and a fish mount.
‘‘I started doing it in 2009,’’ he said.
He learned quickly, taking classes in Janesville, Wisconsin, and starting to attend the Illinois Taxidermist Association’s annual gathering, where he has earned awards.
Next was Scott Freeman in his Money Creek Lures booth with his wife, Kim. Freeman and I had communicated over the years when he was a tournament angler, but we never got out together. He has made lures for a long time and often took custom orders from fishing pros. Now he has expanded.
The business name comes from Money Creek, a tributary of the Mackinaw River in McLean County that he would pass on I-55 when driving south for tournaments.
‘‘It was my confidence-[builder], so I would be ready for a tournament,’’ he said.
The show features a trout pond and other kids events, as well as ‘‘Elvis Returns,’’ ‘‘The Tallest Fisherman in the World,’’ casting contests and ‘‘Feel the Catch.’’ I like how the seminar space was incorporated into the main-floor space this year.