Stilt Fishing

Sea is too rough during the southwest monsoon and this time is the off-season for boat fishing. So most of the boat fishermen are involved in stilt fishing to cover their day-to-day wages. Because of that, usually, stilt fishing season starts at the off-season of the boat fishing and fishermen are lineup in the southern coastal belt during this time. There are two main sessions and the morning session goes on till about 9:00 a.m., or until they sold their day’s catch to buyers who come to the fishing site. Usually, Stilt fishermen can catch small fish like spotted herring and tiny mackerel. The evening session is usually to entertain the foreigners and that will goes till sunset.

Stilt fishermen do not have sophisticated equipment for fishing so everything required for the fishing is made by themself. The stilt they are living in is made by using wooden poles. One pole is anchor to the sea bed and another one is placed like a crossbar. The fishermen sit on the horizontal bar. They create a rod made of “Kitul” (Caryota urens)  for catching the fish, and a small pouch is tied around the waist to hold the caught fish. 

It seems to be an easy task, but actually, this art requires a lot of patience and endurance. The most important part is to maintain a balance while setting on the narrow plank. Then need to wait several hours while maintaining claim and quietness to catch the fish. After a few hours usually the fishermen feel numbness in their feet but they should not move or make any sound. Because that is cause fish to swim away.