When visitors see the stilt fishermen of Sri Lanka, they usually see a beautiful photograph: a man on a thin wooden pole, the sea moving below him, the sun behind. For my family that picture is not a postcard. It is my grandfather. It is my father. It is the life I grew up beside. – Suraj Sampath, Koggala
In Sinhala a stilt fisherman is called a ritipanna. My grandfather was one, and my father followed him onto the stilts. Neither of them learned it from a book. Ritipanna has always come down through only a small number of family lines, from father to son, and each family guarded its own knowledge.
From them I learned that stilt fishing is not only about balance. A fisherman must know where on the reef the fish come, how to plant the Rita, how to make and straighten the Kitul Piththa, and how to stay perfectly still for hours.
The most precious knowledge was how to make the Bilikatuwa, the bait-free hook cast in lead and shaped like a small fish. Only two or three families knew how to make it, and they did not share the secret with others. A skill guarded this closely is not something invented for tourists.
You may read that stilt fishing started during the Second World War. Our family, and many old fishing families, know it is much older. Ritipanna appears in the books of great Sinhala writers. Stilt fishermen are shown in old wood carvings, made alongside the traditional mask (wes muhunu) art of the south, still decorating old houses. And the ancient Devol Madu ritual, held to bring the fish, mentions it in its old verses. Read the history of stilt fishing.
In the past the fish came every season and stayed for up to six months. Today, because of environmental change and the loss of the places where fish breed and shelter, real ritipanna happens only once every few years. Fine-mesh nets close to the shore, breakwaters and sewage channels have all disturbed the places where fish used to gather. That is one reason we want visitors to understand what they are seeing, and to support the families who still keep the tradition.
In 2018 I started Stilt Fishermen Sri Lanka so that visitors could experience this tradition with a real fishing family, and so that the families who keep it alive can earn from it. When you visit us at Maraduwawala you can watch a demonstration, sit on a stilt, hold a traditional rod, take your photographs and hear the stories behind them.
If you are coming to the south coast, message me on WhatsApp. I will tell you honestly what is happening on the sea that week, and the best time to come.
Send us your date, the time you prefer (sunrise or sunset) and how many people. We reply with availability and tell you honestly what the sea and the fish are doing that week.
Book on WhatsApp See experiences and pricesPlanning your visit? Read our full Stilt Fishing in Sri Lanka visitor guide.
