I looked it up - I was completely wrong. Here's the story:
Stilt fishing is unique to Sri Lanka and mainly found along the South coast, although it can apparently be seen on the Western coast as well. This is no ordinary form of fishing, the fishermen in this scenario sit on small benches attached to poles which have been stuck into the water a few meters offshore. There are no large fish caught either, it is solely for catching small reef fish called ‘Bollu’ and ‘Koramburuwo’, tiny little things about the size of a sardine. There is no recorded history as to the origins of stilt fishing, and the locals can't really explain how it started, but they say that traditionally the skill, and the pole itself, was passed down from father to son, and some poles were considered to be better than others based on location and surroundings. The stilt poles, known locally as riti panna, can be seen all along Galle Road, sadly however many were damaged or destroyed during the tsunami.
What is even sadder is the fact that although there are still fishermen genuinely using this technique, it has become quite uncommon, the fishermen seem only to appear when the tourists arrive, and once a fee has been collected they mount their poles and pose for photographs.
There's probably something in that water that would eat them! I bet they put the poles out and get on them when the tides out, but that would be a long wait for the tide to go back out before getting down from there. Very strange ~
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Stilt fishing is unique to Sri Lanka and mainly found along the South coast, although it can apparently be seen on the Western coast as well. This is no ordinary form of fishing, the fishermen in this scenario sit on small benches attached to poles which have been stuck into the water a few meters offshore. There are no large fish caught either, it is solely for catching small reef fish called ‘Bollu’ and ‘Koramburuwo’, tiny little things about the size of a sardine. There is no recorded history as to the origins of stilt fishing, and the locals can't really explain how it started, but they say that traditionally the skill, and the pole itself, was passed down from father to son, and some poles were considered to be better than others based on location and surroundings. The stilt poles, known locally as riti panna, can be seen all along Galle Road, sadly however many were damaged or destroyed during the tsunami.
What is even sadder is the fact that although there are still fishermen genuinely using this technique, it has become quite uncommon, the fishermen seem only to appear when the tourists arrive, and once a fee has been collected they mount their poles and pose for photographs.
More info here: scribol.com/...ishermen-of-kathaluwa