OUTPOST.

Byline: - Daily News and Wire Services

Derby results: The 13th annual Fall Adult Fishing Derby drew an estimated 600 anglers Saturday to Apollo County Park in Lancaster with the lure of cash and prices for taking the largest trout.

John Smith of Westchester outlasted the competition with a 4-pound, six-ounce rainbow worth $1,775 in winnings. Those in the money were followed by: Ken Hite of Quartz Hill with a 3-pound, 14-ounce trout for $887.50; James Webb, Lancaster, 3 pounds 7 ounces, $710; James Riddle, Palmdale, 3 pounds, 5 ounces, $532.5; and Smith (again), Hite (again) and Steve Uher, Quartz Hill, tied for fifth with 3-1/4-pound 'bows for $177.50 each.

Add derby: Coordinators of the United Anglers of Southern California/Yamaha C.A.S.T. (California Anglers Sportfishing Tournament) recently recognized winners in a 100-day contest that featured $100,000 in prizes and sought to draw attention to United Angler's white seabass hatchery and tagging program.

The winners by species categories: Barracuda - Victor Jedlicka of Marina del Rey with 10-1/4-pound specimen; Edward Kwong, Oxnard, 9.2 pounds; Nick Garrison, Costa Mesa, 9 pounds. Calico bass - Charles Iwashita, San Diego, 9-1/4 pounds; Greg Peressini, Torrance, 9.1 and 8.1 pounds. Halibut - Roger Borrell, Somis, 58.6 pounds; Jim Duncan, Costa Mesa, 39.9 pounds; Skip Miser, Oxnard, 39-1/2 pounds. Tuna - Tom McNally, Huntington Beach, 75.9 pounds; Eric Meins, San Diego, 52.1 pounds; Dana Dier, Rancho Cucamonga, 35.1 pounds. Yellowtail - Peter J. Kropf, Seal Beach, 36-1/4 pounds; Chris Grogan, Orange, 34 pounds; Jeff Suttle, Cardiff, 31-1/2 pounds. Sand bass (juniors) - Brooke Dodge (age 9), Huntington Beach, 9.4 pounds; Andrew McKenna (age 7), La Mesa, 5-1/2 pounds; Shane McKenna (age 7), La Mesa, 4-1/2 pounds.

Soothing nature: The Sooky Goldman Nature Center, near the corner of Mulholland Drive and Franklin Canyon Drive south of Studio City, offers an introduction to the ``nature as therapy'' concept with stress-reduction exercises and low-impact nature appreciation Saturday at 1 p.m. Information: [phone], ext. 131.

Hang on: Rock climbers who use anchor bolts will be banned from much of Joshua Tree National Park under an unprecedented plan to take effect Dec. 6 in an effort to preserve its ancient granite boulders.

Some 75 percent of the nearly 800,000-acre park, considered a rock climbers' mecca, will be an ``anchor-free zone,'' said Ernest Quintana, park superintendent. That change means those areas will be off-limits to climbers who use metal bolts drilled into the sheer rock faces to secure their ropes.

The plan will be the first of its kind in the nation to address the environmental impacts of climbing, said Holly Bundock, a National Park Service spokeswoman.

Help on the way: The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill to help farmers keep salmon out of irrigation ditches - a move aimed at avoiding more fish listings in the West.

The bill creates a new federal program where federal officials could team up with farmers and state and local officials to voluntarily build screens and other devices along streams. The idea is to keep the fish from flowing into farmers' irrigation systems and being killed. The bill would authorize $25 million for the program in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Pluggin' along: After years without a major manufacturer, the A.C. Plug - the world-renowned big-bass catcher designed by former Lancaster resident Allan Cole - will be made starting next year by the Luhr-Jensen lure company of Hood River, Ore.

``Luhr-Jensen is one of the largest lure makers in the nation, and Phil Jensen has assured me that the lures would be made to the highest standards,'' said Allan Cole of the agreement, which was reached last week.

Cole, who now lives in Boulder City, Nev., to be closer to the striped bass he pursues in the Colorado River, began fishing his design in the late 1970s, catching huge striped and largemouth bass in Southern California. The lure quickly earned a reputation for catching big fish and in a short period of five years racked a list of trophy-sized largemouth that has never been equaled.

The Fred Arbogast Company was the first major lure maker to produce the lure under a contract with Cole, but the company initially made an inferior product, using the wrong wood and poor paint, Cole claims. Eventually most of the problems were corrected and the lure sold in large numbers across the nation, but when Arbogast was sold to PRADCO, the A.C. Plug was not a part of the agreement. After a year, the rights to the plug reverted to Cole, who went back to making the lures by hand.

Birdwatching for beginners: Malibu Creek State Park, at Las Virgenes and Malibu Canyon roads in Camarillo, hosts a free, easy-paced nature walk to identify birds on Nov. 20 at 8 a.m. Those interested should meet in the lower parking lot and bring binoculars. Information: [phone].