By TIM UNRUH

Salina Journal

Cooper Shubert cringed as the channel catfish on the end of his line began to fight its capture.

"Ooh. Yuck," the 4-year-old from Hays groaned while eyeing his prize.

Standing near the stock tank with a pole in his hand, Daniel Allen, 3, Salina, gave himself a pep talk.

"I can do this. I can do this," the tyke said to himself.

Within seconds, his line tightened and little Daniel had landed his own trophy Saturday at the 43rd annual AMBUCS Leisure Living and Sports Show. It was Daniel's first real catch, said his father, Jim Allen.

Youngsters lined up in the Salina Bicentennial Center concourse to pay $2 to fish for five minutes. Volunteers were expecting up to 300 to try their luck Saturday, and about the same today.

The show, with 64 exhibitors selling everything from boats and campers to lawn mowers, food and bottled water, is open today from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Admission is a donation of $3 each, $8 for families, and children 12 and younger are free.

The fish tank has proven to be fun duty for the AMBUCS members who help run the trade show.

"Out of any place you could work in the show, I'd rather work here," he said.

The club buys catfish from a farm near Canton. Anglers have the choice of releasing their catch to the tank or taking it home. About 35 percent of the fish are taken home, AMCUBS member Joe Hay said. Most of their customers are youngsters.

"There's all this stuff for the adults to do, looking at the campers and boats. This is something for the kids to do. This whole show is about kids. That's what we're here for," he said.

The trade show is the main fund raiser for the Breakfast Bandits chapter of AMBUCS club, with 162 members. The service clubs meets every Friday morning at a different Salina restaurant. The $20,000 or more raised at the show each year allows AMBUCS to help handicapped people, assisting with medical bills and travel costs to appointments and treatments, said Bob Grothoff, who is cochairing the show with Dan Eshleman. AMBUCS also funds scholarships for physical therapists and provides eyeglasses and specially built AmTrykes for handicapped children.

Despite the spring-like conditions outside, folks were filling up the Bicentennial Center.

"We've got a pretty steady crowd. So far it's a pretty good show," Grothoff said.Up to 9,000 people attend the show every year.

Vendors buy space to promote their products, and it pays off, said Wava Kramer of Longford Water. Started in 2005, the company sells bottled water under its own label. The company also sells bottled water under labels it creates for other businesses and organizations.

"We came two years ago and, afterward, business picked up. We got quite a few contacts," Kramer said. "We missed last year and wanted to come back."

Exhibitor Tracy Carrell of Wichita Marine, said she sold three boats by 2 p.m. Saturday. The company has been coming to the Salina event for seven years.

"We really enjoy this show. There are a lot of nice people here," Carrell said.

The Ottawa County Rescue Team is using the AMBUCS show for their own fund raising, selling tickets for a raffle from the Minneapolis Raceway booth in the arena. A $1 ticket -- four for $5 -- buys you a chance to win an 870 Remington 12 gauge pump-action shotgun. The team goal is to raise $6,000 or more to buy rescue equipment, said member Matt Lichtenwalter. Sales at the show Saturday were "pretty good," he said.

The rescue squad will be selling tickets at Minneapolis Raceway events through the summer, also the Bennington Rodeo and the Ottawa County Fair. The drawing is Aug. 30 at the raceway northwest of Bennington. You do not need to be present to win.

n Reporter Tim Unruh can be reached at 822-1419 or by e-mail at tunruh@salina.com.