OUTPOST.

Free fishing day: It's almost here and newcomers are encouraged to jump right in.

The Department of Fish and Game's biannual free fishing day, when no sportfishing license is required to toss a baited line in state waters, will take place June 8. The program, in its ninth year, is geared to promote fishing with the hope of attracting new anglers.

Several programs across the state will allow first-time anglers to receive free fishing instruction and loans of rods, reels and tackle. Even the bait is free.

The Los Angeles-area event takes place from 7 a.m. to noon at Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area. Information: [phone]. A fishing tournament for beginners with awards in several categories will also be held at Lincoln Park Lake. Information: [phone].

Aspiring anglers can call [phone] for a recorded list of Southland water stocked by the DFG with half-pound rainbow trout and catfish.

Another free fishing day is held each September.

A little night fishing: The first of three benefit nighttime bass angling tournaments is slated for Saturday at Castaic Lake.

The event, called Night Bass Classics, is hosted by and supports the Friends of Castaic Lake, a nonprofit group devoted to enhancing the facilities and fisheries at the county's busiest recreational area without using the taxpayer's money. Last year's series raised more than $12,000 for the organization.

On-site registration will be from 4 p.m.. to 7:30 p.m. at the lake's west ramp. The two other events will take place July 13 and Aug. 24. The cost of each contest, administered by WON BASS-Southern California Region tournament staff, is $100 per two-person team.

Castaic's population of largemouth bass feeds more actively at night, when the heavy boating and fishing pressure has diminished. Last June's event produced 10 bass that weighed more than 7 pounds each, including a contest-best 13.71-pounder. Information: [phone].

Sail away: The Pacific Aquatic Section of the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks is offering sailing lessons beginning Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Westwood Swimming Pool, 1350 Sepulveda Blvd. in Los Angeles.

An additional three classes will be held at the same time each Saturday through June 22 in Marina del Rey. A second course will be offered from June 29 to July 20.

Each four-week section costs $60; all eight classes are $100. The lessons are taught by Red Cross-certified instructors. Registration: [phone] or 765-5392.

Boat show: The 10th annual Spring Boat Show will be held Saturday through June 9 at the Los Angeles County Fairplex, 1101 W. McKinley Ave. in Pomona.

The event will showcase vessels from several major manufacturers, as well as various personal watercraft and water-ski equipment, throughout a 150,000-square-foot area within the facility's two newly remodeled halls.

Hours are 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $6; children 12 and under will be admitted free of charge. Information: [phone].

Hall honored: Boat and tackle show king Fred Hall of Oxnard has received the United Anglers of Southern California's Bill Ray Memorial Award in recognition of his lifetime contributions to the improvement of marine resources.

Hall's Western Fishing Tackle shows, a Southland staple for half a century, generated more than 18,000 signatures for a successful petition to ban area gillnetting and have provided tens of thousands of children their first fishing opportunities.

Hunting news: The application deadline to apply for big game tags in California - including deer - is nearly a month earlier this year. Hunters must have completed tag applications into the Department of Fish and Game's License and Revenue Branch in Sacramento no later than Monday this year.

Frog woes: A rare species of California frog that may have been the original ``celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County'' has leaped off the pages of Mark Twain's famous short story and onto the list of endangered and threatened species.

The Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the determination May 20.

Some 80,000 frogs were harvested for food each year in the San Francisco Bay Area between 1890 and 1900. The species continued to decline as agricultural and urban development eliminated its habitat. It was gone from the floor of the Central Valley by 1960, and remaining populations in the Sierra foothills were fragmented and later eliminated by reservoir construction, exotic predators, grazing and drought.

The red-legged frog is the first species to be added to the U.S. List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants following a yearlong Congressional moratorium on listings that began in April 1995.

``Here, critter, critter'': A varmint-calling seminar, where participants can learn to call fox, bobcat, black bear, badgers and coyotes, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 8 at the Elks Lodge, 1451 Brea Blvd. in Fullerton.

State hunt and calling champions Jeff Buck and Skip Christensen, along with other top predator callers, will be featured in the presentation. The show will include information about electronic calls, cover scents and attractants, decoys, camouflage, firearms and optics, as well as hunting seasons, regulations, hot spots and strategies.

Admission is $10; ages 13 and younger may attend for free. Information: [phone] or [phone].

Eastern Sierra events: The Convict Lake Resort Spring Trout Derby is under way and will conclude June 16, while the Crowley Lake Fish Camp Trophy Trout Round-Up begins Saturday and runs through June 30.

Cash and product prizes will be awarded for the heaviest trout plucked from the lakes during these periods. Some restrictions apply; entry fees are $5. Information: Convict, [phone]; Crowley, [phone] or [phone].

Survey says: A new survey of boat owners shows that 85 percent of males would rather go fishing than hold the office of president.

Nearly two-thirds of those responding to a tongue-in-cheek survey by Johnson and Evinrude outboards said they would rather shut down the government for a national ``Gone Fishing Day'' than for a budget impasse.

Finally, more than two thirds said they would rather go fishing than be a professional athlete for a day - even if that athlete were the Super Bowl MVP.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) 19th century cavalry trooper uniforms are don ned for a Gatling gun exhibit, one of many demonstrations offered Friday through Sunday during the Angeles Expo '96 shooting fair at the Angeles Ranges, 12651 Little Tujunga Canyon Road in San Fernando. Information: [phone].

Gene Waldo / Special to the Daily News

(2) HALL