Prolly depend on what was in the crick!
Big catfish?
Muskrats?
Bullfrogs?
If hungry enough , snakes? Turtles?
Crick bottom might be good or bad for a multi tined spear. Soft bottoms are easy on a spear , rocks and stones not so much.
A single tine can be touched up faster and right back to work/ready to work position.
A weir could have existed where stabbing a choice was not difficult.
Depends on the era as to what was fair game. IF a user of a spearing device was playing by the rules.
During the great depression for example , I'd have violated a fish before going hungry again....
And an effective tool would have been good enough , vs a boughten or time consuming construction.
