Photos by Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

Christiana Bradley uses a variety of fishing lures during casting demonstrations Saturday.

Andrew Stegner, 6, and his grandfather, Larry Patton, (left front) of Smith Mountain Lake watch a demonstration by Christiana Bradley, of Warrenton, a full-time software engineer and a fishing pro.

A variety of callers from turkey to raccoon were on display Saturday.

There was only one place in town Saturday where you could get buck urine scent for just $7 a can, take in a turkey calling competition, test-drive an all-terrain vehicle and watch someone fish for bass from a tank.

It was the Virginia Outdoor Sportsmen's Classic, the ultimate toy store for hunting and fishing enthusiasts.

"This is like kids at Christmas," Todd Bean of Pulaski said of the crowd that browsed through more than 150 exhibits at the Salem Civic Center. "A wish list that you can see and feel."

About 8,000 people from 70 miles around were expected to attend the outdoor expo, which ends a three-day run today, said organizer Waynette Anderson.

The crowd was predominantly male. (Hence the Hooters girls at the front gate handing out programs). But among vendors with names such as Bite Me Baits, Grizzly Tobacco, Mountain Man Calls, Crockett and Son Gun Shop and Buffalo Bob's Meat Sticks, one booth stood out in the wilderness.

"We've made some good contacts." said the woman behind the Mary Kay cosmetics stand. "The women who come through here, they can get bored, walking around looking at all the hunting stuff."

But for the most part, those who paid the $9 admission fee were there to shop for hunting, fishing and camping gear -- or to get some tips at presentations such as Bass Tubs of Oklahoma, a 5,000-gallon glass tank mounted on a 18-wheeler truck bed.

At one end of the tank, professional fisherman Keith Johnson stood on a simulated boat and cast into waters populated by large-mouth bass, blue gill and catfish.

Usually, fishing for bass in a tank is not like shooting fish in a barrel.

"They're a little stressed," Johnson said of the fish, who could look through the glass walls to see a crowd of people looking back at them intently, waiting for some action.

Although bass are usually reluctant to bite under such circumstances, "these fish are hungry," Christiana Bradley said as she demonstrated casting techniques with a buzz bait lure.

Bradley, who competes in the Women's Bassmasters Tour, hooked one after just three casts.

"You got one!" a boy in the crowd shouted.

Taking care not to set her hook in the fish's mouth, Bradley reeled the bass in and released it back into the tank. She cast again. Another strike.

"You got another one!" the boy cried. "You're good!"

Elsewhere in the civic center, Michael Stigall was extolling the virtues of the various scents he offers for sale in aerosol cans: buck urine to attract the dominant whitetail looking to fight another buck; doe estrous for the buck with something else in mind; earth scent to mask the smell of the hopeful hunter watching from a tree stand.

Stigall, of CommonScents Hunting Products, explained to a potential customer how he became sold on the concept a few years ago.

"It was like a Baptist being dipped in the water," he told the man. "And now I'm going to dip you in urine."

The man didn't immediately reach for his wallet. But Stigall's unique product, and his enthusiastic sales pitch, left an impression on Virgil Harden, who came to the event from Pulaski with fellow shopper Bean.

Standing on the civic center floor, wearing a set of paper antlers provided by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Harden marveled at all the wonders that surrounded him.

In addition to Stigall's scent machine, which can be timed to emit odors into the woodlands with periodic bursts, Harden also was impressed with the insulated fanny warmers, on sale for $29.95.

"That was special," he said.