GROVE CITY - When trout season opens Saturday, anglers will say goodbye to two structures on Wolf Creek while saying hello to another.

With pending restoration of the creek, this season will be the last in which two dams inhibit the creek that runs through the borough. The dams are near the bridges over Harrisville Road and Route 208.

The new structure, a deck built last year to accommodate children and fishermen with handicaps, was built off Greenwood Drive along with five log and stone deflectors. The permanent deflectors, said Joe Morris, a state waterways conservation officer, have been staggered along the creek banks near the deck.

The placement of the V-shaped deflectors will guide the current, he said, allowing it to scour out areas in the creek bottom. The scoured areas and the downstream sides of the deflectors will serve as hiding places for trout and other species. As a result, Morris said fish will tend to congregate near the deflectors and deck, increasing the chances of fishing success.

With help from the state Fish and Boat Commission, the deck project was coordinated by Trout Unlimited and the Grove City Sportsman's Club. Labor and materials were donated by General Electric Co., other businesses and residents.

Morris said the sportsman's club and Trout Unlimited plan to hold fishing derbies and other events near the deck.

Since work on the project began last year toward the end of fishing season, this fishing season will be the first time the deck is used.

While the deck and deflectors will improve fishing conditions for many, removing the dams will also impact anglers along the creek.

"Personally, I say it's the best thing we could do. Those dams serve no useful purpose," said Craig Billingsley, of the state Fish and Boat Commission. He is based at the Linesville State Fish Hatchery in Crawford County and manages fisheries in the northwest corner of the state.

Billingsley said the dams, which have outlived their original purpose as part of a grist mill operation, slow the creek's current, increasing water temperature. Since trout and small-mouth bass, the fish most commonly found in the creek, thrive in cooler water, removing the dams should increase their longevity.

"As it is now, once those temperatures get up there, (the fish) either vacate the area or die," he said.

Billingsley said removing dams can change water temperatures by as much as 10 degrees.

He said removing the dams could ultimately mean Wolf Creek stocking limits would extend farther upstream.

The Fish and Boat Commission stocked Wolf Creek Wednesday with 1,300 brown and rainbow trout, said Morris. The state will add 900 more fish in coming weeks, and Trout Unlimited will supplement the stockings.

Although trout season lasts until February, most fishing occurs early in the season. In later months, Morris said creek water levels drop and anglers head toward lakes in search of warm-water species.