Stilt fishing is a method of shore fishing where fishermen perch on wooden poles planted in shallow ocean water, casting lines from a seated position several feet above the surface. The practice is closely associated with the southern coast of Sri Lanka, where it originated during World War II and remains a living tradition today.
How Stilt Fishing Works
The setup is simple but effective. A wooden pole, roughly 3 to 4 meters long, is driven into dead coral rock on the sea floor in shallow water near shore. A second piece of wood serves as a crossbar, tied horizontally to the vertical pole to create a small seat. The fisherman climbs up, sits on the crossbar, and fishes with a rod and line while balancing above the water. In Sinhalese, the practice is called “ritipanna,” and the crossbar seat is known as a “petta.”
The rods are traditionally made from kithul, a type of palm native to Sri Lanka. The hooks are handmade from lead and, notably, are used without bait. Fishermen rely on the movement of the hook itself to attract small fish like spotted herring and small mackerel. When they land a catch, they drop it into a bag tied around their waist, keeping both hands free for the next cast.
The poles are semi-permanent structures. Families own multiple stilts positioned across different spots, and the same poles are reused throughout the fishing season. This isn’t a method for hauling in large quantities of fish. It’s a patient, low-volume technique suited to the shallow coastal waters where these small species gather.
Where It’s Practiced
Stilt fishing is concentrated along Sri Lanka’s southern coastline, particularly around the towns of Koggala, Ahangama, and Weligama in the Galle District. The village of Maraduwala, near Koggala, is one of the areas where the tradition remains most active, with families maintaining stilts across multiple fishing spots.
The fishing season runs roughly from May to October, when small fish like koraburuwa are abundant in the shallow waters. Fishermen typically work during low tide or at night, when conditions are right for the species they’re targeting. Outside this six-month window, the stilts stand empty.
Origins During World War II
Despite its appearance as an ancient tradition, stilt fishing is only about 80 years old. It emerged during World War II, when food shortages and overcrowded fishing spots along the coast pushed people to find new ways to catch fish. Some fishermen began using wreckage from capsized ships and downed aircraft as makeshift platforms to fish from above the water. When that worked, they started building their own poles and driving them into coral reefs, creating the stilt system that persists today.
As photographer Florian Müller put it after documenting the fishermen in 2010: “It’s not really ancient. Still, it’s a beautiful way that the people adapted to their situation.” What began as wartime improvisation became a family tradition passed down through generations in southern Sri Lanka’s coastal villages.
Why It’s Considered Sustainable
Stilt fishing is one of the lowest-impact methods of ocean fishing. The fishermen use no nets, no boats, no motors, and no bait. Each person catches a small number of fish at a time using a single hook and line. There’s no bycatch problem and no fuel consumption. The poles are anchored in dead coral rather than living reef, and the method targets small, abundant species rather than larger predators that play key roles in the marine food chain.
This makes it an essentially zero-footprint form of fishing, though the catches are small enough that it functions as subsistence or supplemental income rather than a commercial operation.
Threats to the Tradition
The number of active stilt fishermen has been declining for decades. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami destroyed many of the poles and disrupted coastal communities along southern Sri Lanka. Some fishermen rebuilt, but others shifted to different livelihoods.
Tourism has created a complicated dynamic. Stilt fishing has become one of Sri Lanka’s most photographed scenes, and some fishermen now earn more money posing for tourists than they do from actual fishing. Visitors pay to take photos or even sit on the stilts themselves. This has kept the visual tradition alive in some areas, but it has also turned a working fishing method into a performance. In spots heavily trafficked by tour groups, the men on the stilts may not be fishing at all.
Meanwhile, younger generations in these villages increasingly pursue other work. The catches from stilt fishing are modest, and the physical demands of balancing on a narrow crossbar above the ocean for hours at a time make it unappealing compared to other options. The families who still fish this way tend to be those with deep roots in the tradition, maintaining their poles and passing on the technique as both a livelihood and a cultural practice.