OUTPOST.

Byline: - Daily News and Wire Services

Bass-o-matic: The fourth annual Calico Shootout between the Los Angeles Rod and Reel Club and the San Fernando Valley Saltwater Fisherman club took place Sunday aboard the Sea Biscuit out of Capt. Hook's Sportfishing in Oxnard, and the LARRC tied the series at two wins apiece.

Conditions were extremely difficult for the nine-member teams, with cold, dirty water along the coast. Only 11 calicos measuring a legal length of 12 inches or more qualified for weigh-in - compared to last year's 82 bass.

The LARRC team brought eight bass to the scales of more than 12 pounds, and SFVSF boated three for more than three pounds. Big fish for the tournament was a 5-pound, 5-ounce calico taken by LARRC's Richard Lapidus of Simi Valley.

Discover fishing: The Department of Fish and Game offers a chance to learn the basics of freshwater fishing at a workshop scheduled for 8 a.m. Saturday at Whittier Narrows Visitor Center, 750 S. Santa Anita Ave. in South El Monte. The free program is designed for children ages 7-15 and their parents. Information: [phone].

Small fry big deal: Randall Holman was downrigger trolling with a mackerel off Malibu Pier in hopes of catching one of the thresher sharks that populate Santa Monica Bay in late spring and early summer.

He ended up with a 28-1/2-inch white seabass - barely eclipsing the legal

minimum length. So what?

The catch happens to represent the first confirmed take of a legal-size offspring from the decade-old Southern California seabass hatchery project conducted by the DFG, Hubbs/Seaworld, the Sportfishing Association of California and United Anglers of Southern California. Juvenile fish have been taken in DFG net surveys.

``This is a landmark catch,'' said UASC president Tom Raftican. ``It shows that the fish we've been reintroducing into the ocean all these years are surviving, they are growing and, most importantly, they are reaching breeding size.''

Information: [phone].

Derby results: On Saturday at Ventura County's Lake Casitas, Mark McMurry of Simi Valley and Butch Brown of Moorpark took a three-bass limit of 16.39 pounds - including a 9.16-pound bucketmouth - on DK Spinnerbaits to win the second of three events in the Trolling Motor Doctor Night Team Tournament Series. The field was 91 teams, putting the champions' payout at $3,610, including a new trolling motor.

Second place went to Long Beach's Veronica Bruno and Joe Uribe Jr. with a 14.29-pound limit worth $2,015 in winnings. Placing third was Norwalk's Roy Hickman and Ray Marler of Helendale on a 14.22-pound limit for $1,180.

The biggest largemouth was a 9.39-pounder weighed in by Jim Newberry and Jim Baker of Ventura, which helped them to a 16th-place finish and $985.

The third and final event is Aug. 14 at Casitas. Information: [phone].

Overheard: In a recent Sports Illustrated article, 96-year-old Erwin Jaskulski of Hawaii credited a regimen of trekking for his world-record 100-meter dash of 24.01 seconds - breaking the standard for the 95-99 age-group by nearly 15 seconds during a race in May.

``I did it hiking, hiking, hiking?'' said the Austria-Hungary native. ``Well, certain other principals were involved.''

For the birds: The Inland Empire chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation holds its annual fund-raising banquet at 6 p.m. Saturday at El Prado County Club in Chino. All proceeds go to research and ongoing relocations of the game birds.

Cost is $55 per person or $80 per couple and include a one-year membership in the NWTF. Information: [phone].