Fishing on Stilts

What would you need if you were going fishing in the ocean? At the top of your list would probably be a boat, followed by a rod baited with sea animals or your lucky saltwater lure. You’d want a net, bucket, tools, binoculars, hat, sunscreen — a lengthy list!

In Sri Lanka, innovative fishermen are successful at catching fish with a simple method requiring little more than two wooden poles and a lot of patience.

About Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a small island off the coast of India in the Indian Ocean. It is about 25,300 square miles with a population of almost 22 million. It has been the longtime home of many different religious and ethnic communities, such as:

• the Sinhalese, the largest ethnic group
• the Indigenous Vedda people
• Tamil families with long ties to southern India
• Moors and Malays, whose histories are connected to Indian Ocean trade
• Burghers, whose ancestry includes European colonial settlers

All these different groups have their own unique customs, but perhaps one of the most interesting is stilt fishing.

How Does It Work?

Stilt fishing is a method where a fisherman places one or two sticks deep into the sand a few meters offshore, then builds a thin bench to sit on, forming a triangle. The triangle is the best shape for this bench because it is the most stable polygon. These seats are no more than a thin piece of bamboo that may be fewer than six inches wide! Can you imagine sitting on something that skinny? It can’t be comfortable.

Next, the fisherman casts his line and waits until a fish comes along to be caught. Sometimes, he may stay out for hours! However, these fish are not barracudas. They are small coastal fish, barely even the size of a sardine and probably weighing less than one pound. Some are known locally as koramburuwo or bollan, and they swim in the shallow waters along Sri Lanka’s southern coast.

Then and Now

Nobody can say exactly when stilt fishing began, but many accounts trace it to the years around World War II, when food shortages and crowded fishing spots pushed people to try new ways to catch fish from shore. Locals say the skill was passed down through families. A father might teach his son how to climb the pole, balance above the water, and wait for the fish to come along.

For a time, some families used this method to catch food and earn money. Those with the best sticks and locations had a certain pride and status.

Nowadays, the custom is fading as a regular way to fish. It is not a lucrative business to support a family on, so many fishermen have other jobs. In some places, stilt fishing now happens more for tourists than for catching dinner. Still, this is an amazing custom that requires patience, skill, and strategy.

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