Some visitors leave the south coast saying stilt fishing is “just a tourist show”. As a stilt fishing family from Koggala, we want to explain what is really going on. Stilt fishing is real. What causes the confusion is the difference between a photo stilt and a fishing stilt.
Many travel guides say stilt fishing began around the time of the Second World War. That is not true. It is a much older tradition, kept alive by only a few families on the south coast. A fisherman sits on a small crossbar tied to a pole planted in the reef and fishes with a simple rod and line. It is called ritipanna (රිටිපන්නය) in Sinhala, and families still pass it from father to son. Read the full story on our History page.
My father was a stilt fisherman, and so was his father before him. Ritipanna has never belonged to everyone. It has come down through only a small number of family lines, from father to son, and each family guarded its own knowledge.
The most precious secret was how to make the Bilikatuwa, the bait-free hook. Only two or three families knew how to make it, and they deliberately did not share the secret with other families. A skill guarded this closely, inside a handful of bloodlines, is not something invented for tourists in the last few decades.
In the past there were far more fish, and ritipanna was practised at many places along the south coast, from Galle all the way to Matara. Fishing families say it was already practised during British colonial times.
One main reason the fish were so plentiful was the coir rope industry. People living along the coast made rope from coconut husk fibre. To make the rope, the husks had to be soaked for a long time in water, and the places where the husks were soaked attracted large numbers of fish. Stilt fishing and rope making grew up side by side.
The old place names still prove it. In Koggala there are places such as Maradu Wala and Kohu Wala. Kohu (කොහු) is the coconut husk fibre used for rope, and wala (වල) is the pit of water where the husks were soaked. Koggala has many places with names like these.
Even the fishing line tells the story. Before nylon line was available, stilt fishermen tied the Thanguwa using thread taken from thick cloth.
A show put on for tourists would not appear in old books, carvings and ritual verses. Stilt fishing is a living heritage of the southern coast.
The fishing spots belong to families. The places where fishermen plant their stilts are not chosen at random. They are inherited through the generations of fishing families, and each fisherman has a recognised spot where he may plant his pole. These spots are officially recorded, and today the Divisional Secretariat keeps the records of the locations and the fishermen who use them. Nobody keeps official records for a tourist show.
Every tool is made by hand, the old way.
A fisherman who only posed for photos would not need any of this. The skills, the tools and the family fishing spots are the living proof that stilt fishing is real.
Many travellers want to sit on a stilt and take a photo. That is not safe out on the reef in the waves, so in some places stilts are set up in shallow water close to the beach. There, visitors can climb up, feel what it is like and take their pictures.
These are photo stilts. They were never meant for fishing. When a visitor sees only these stilts near the sand, or sees someone posing on one in the middle of the day, it is easy to think the whole tradition is staged. It is not. The photo stilts simply give visitors a safe way to experience it.
This is the part most people do not know: the fish only come to certain places. Small fish such as sardines and mackerel gather at particular spots on the reef that they are used to, where the waves and the rocks bring them food. A stilt planted anywhere else catches almost nothing.
That is why real fishing stilts stand only at the traditional fishing places, chosen and used by generations of fishermen. It is also why fishing is not possible at many of the easy, roadside places where photos are taken.
Even at the right place, the fish are not always there. In the past they came every season and stayed for up to six months. Today, because of climate and environmental change and the loss of the places where fish breed and shelter, real ritipanna happens only once every few years. When the fish are away, there is nothing to catch, and the fishermen wait for them to return.
So if you visit when the fish are away, you will not see real fishing, even at the true fishing places. That does not make the tradition fake. It means the fishermen follow the sea, not a tourist timetable. Message us before you come and we will tell you honestly whether the fish are in.
A study by the University of Colombo, “Challenges and Opportunities of Traditional Stilt Fishing Industry in Southern Sri Lanka” (D.A.C. Suranga Silva, Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, Vol. 8, No. 8, 2017), surveyed 100 stilt fishermen at six fishing villages on the south coast, including Maraduwawala, Ahangama, Midigama and Weligama. It found:
In Koggala, the main traditional stilt fishing place is Maraduwawala. This is where the fish come, and where the fishermen of our village have fished from stilts for generations. When you visit with us, we explain how and when the fishing happens there, so you see the real tradition and not only a photo point.
Both have their place. The photo stilts let you try it safely, and the fishing stilts keep the tradition alive. The important thing is that visitors understand which is which.
Meet real stilt fishermen, hear the story from them, take your photos and, when the sea allows, sit on a stilt yourself. Your visit supports the families who still keep this tradition going.
Book on WhatsApp See experiences and pricesNo. Stilt fishing is a real fishing method that families on the south coast have passed down for generations, and some still fish this way for their living. Each family's fishing spot is inherited and recorded by the local Divisional Secretariat. What some visitors see are photo stilts placed close to the beach so travellers can try it safely. Those are photo points, not fishing points.
They are placed in shallow water so visitors can climb up, feel the experience and take photos safely. Real fishing stilts stand further out on the reef, where the fish actually come.
Fish gather only at certain spots on the reef that they are used to. A pole planted anywhere else catches almost nothing, so real fishing stilts are set only at those traditional places.
Maraduwawala is the main traditional stilt fishing place in Koggala. Our family can take you there and explain the fishing.
Real fishing usually happens early in the morning or late afternoon, on stilts standing out on the reef in the waves, with fishermen holding rods and a bag for the catch. Photo stilts are close to the shore and used during the day for pictures.
No. In the past the fish came every season and stayed up to six months, but today, because of environmental change and the loss of breeding places, real stilt fishing happens only once every few years. Message us before your visit and we will tell you honestly whether the fish are in.
Planning your visit? Read our full Stilt Fishing in Sri Lanka visitor guide.
