Ahangama stilt fishing (Riti Panna): timber pole embedding into coral reefs and morning tides?
How do artisanal stilt fishers plant Alstonia timber uprights (Petiya) into surf-washed sandstone reefs, and what baitless barbless hooks catch spotted herrings at 7 AM?
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3 Answers from travellers
Traditional stilt fishing (Riti Panna) along the rocky shallows of Ahangama and Kathaluwa uses a single vertical timber post (Kotta Peta) wedged into natural crevices in the sandstone reef shelf. A crossbar (Petiya) is lashed to the pole using coir ropes at a height adjusted to stay above breaking waves. Fishers climb on at 6:30 AM, balancing barefoot with one arm hooked around the pole. Using slender kitul-wood rods without reels, they flick tiny barbless hooks baited with raw shrimp or shiny beads into white surf pockets to catch schooling Spotted Herrings (Bole) and small mackerel (Kattaha).
Many poles near tourist hotels are commercial staging props where actors charge travelers for photographs; authentic fishers fish at dawn with bags tied to waists.
The technique avoids casting shadows onto clear water, allowing anglers to hook skittish reef fish without driving them away from shoreline shallows.
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