RECALL: FEW LOCAL RETAILERS SOLD DEFECTIVE `WORM GETTER'

An electric-powered rod used by anglers to shock worms out of the ground is being recalled because 30 people have been electrocuted by similar devices, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

The worm probe being recalled was manufactured by Handy Marketing Co. of Grand Rapids, Mich., which no longer is in business.

The commission said it is aware of more than 30 deaths involving "functional-identical" worm probes. The agency said the defective probes that were sold by mail order were removed from the catalogs and the owners notified by mail, but other units that were purchased in retail stores throughout the country may still be in use.

About 83,000 electric WG6-S and WG8-L Worm Getter probes were sold between 1980 and 1992 by K-mart stores and five mail-order catalog companies: Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops, Fishing Hot Spots, the Sportsman's Guide, and Gander Mountain. Other unidentified retailers may also have sold the Worm Getter, said the commission.

Owners are advised to stop using the probes and return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. The rods sold for $11 to $28.

Apparently none of the defective Worm Getters were sold in the Cape Girardeau area. Most sporting goods stores contacted said they did not stock the device.

Jerry Bennett Jr., who owns the Tackle Box in Scott City, said he has heard about the recall "through word of mouth from our customers and from articles in fishing magazines." Bennett said he has never sold the shock rods in his stores.

Tunis Barley, manager of the sporting goods department at the Cape Girardeau K-mart store, said notices were received from the company's headquarters in Michigan about the defective units.

"We have not sold any of the models that are being recalled," he said. "But as a matter of policy, K-mart will accept the defective units at any K-mart store in the country.

"We have posted notices of the recall and the refund at our customer service desk and in the sporting goods department just in case someone might have moved into the Cape area who purchased one of the units at another K-mart store. So far none has been brought in."

A spokesperson for Bass Pro Shops' catalog division in Springfield said only a few of the defective units have been returned to their headquarters. Bass Pro began receiving reports as early as 1986 that some people using the units had received electrical shocks. The spokesman said the devices were removed from the Bass Pro catalogs a short time later.

The electric probes have a single, energized metal rod that is partially enclosed in plastic. They are plugged into 110-volt household electrical outlets and are inserted in the ground to agitate the worms.

The commission said consumers have been electrocuted by contacting the exposed metal shaft of the rod and shocked by touching the ground in the vicinity of the probe. Officials said a part of the problem is the soil surface may be dry but the ground underneath it moist.

The handler of the electric probe isn't the only person at risk, said Stacey Reuben Mesa of the commission. "Anyone standing around it could become a target," she said.

The toll-free numbers for the catalog companies that sold the Worm Getter are Cabela's 1-800-237-8888; Bass Pro Shops, 1-800-554-5488; Gander Mountain, 1-800-426-3371; The Sportsman's Guide, 1-800-888-5222; and Fishing Hot Spots, 1-800-338-5957.

Customers who purchased the Worm Getter elsewhere are asked to call the Consumer Product Safety Commission at 1-800-638-2772.