Buy a man a fishing trip, and he will have fish for the day.

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and he will have food for a lifetime." There is a saying about beneficial life skills: I fell somewhere between the two on the island of Koh Tao, Thailand.

The beginning of this adventure started on the ferry from Koh Phan-gan to Koh Tao. Notorious for the sea sickness on the hour-long crossing, I was determined to get a good seat on the bottom of the boat. As with most things in Thailand, the ship was packed full of as many people as could sit, stand, or fly alongside. The conversation started with the Israeli Couple next to me and quickly led to our mutual interest in the most typical guy conversation: fishing.

Koh Tao is known for its Scuba Diving courses. It is one of the cheapest places to get your dive license in the world, and the fifty options for dive shops only drive the price down. The island takes about twenty minutes by scooter from the top to the bottom, which also makes it appeal to travelers of all ages. Past 10 PM, you may feel like you are in a pub surrounded by Brits from Manchester, United Kingdom, but it is still Thailand. My seatmate, Elad, Mentioned that he wanted to do a fishing tour the following day, and I was all ears.

A Party hostel I booked for the first and last time was the perfect place to start my day on the ocean. The morning following the famous Koh Tao Pub Crawl, I woke the dorm room up earlier than they could comprehend and set off on my adventure. Myself, Elad, His girlfriend, and a Dutch son and mother set off on the bright blue 30ft fishing boat. The captain was a four-foot Thai man who had grown up on the water and easily conned the vessel through the cargo ships.

Sport fishing is relatively new to Thailand. The main attraction in Thailand is scuba diving, and the tropical coral usually does not go hand in hand with yanking the unsuspecting fish out of their home. In most Western countries, you get a fishing license, fish to the catch limit, and respect people's land. But, we are nowhere near a western country, so you catch fish, as it should be!

I acquitted the idea that fishing should be a birthright after having to buy a fishing license in 2021 to catch zero fish all year.

Squid was the only bait that the guide and captain helped us attach to the hooks; the rod and reel setup varied between stations, but once the anchor was set, we cast the squid about sixty meters to the bottom of the ocean and hoped for a bite!

Elad got the first hit. It was a small fish that was not big enough for us to keep, but the captain showed his excitement about its next life as bait for "Barracuda!" and threw it into the live well. The current pushed us closer to the shore and caused us to resituate often and reset the lines. Next came the red snapper, followed by a super ugly grouper. According to the captain, all were keepers as he tossed them to the deck. My time was spent reeling up my half-eaten squid, resetting, and asking the captain if I should do anything to help my situation; in limited words, I was told to wait and watch the rod tip.

Poking at my reddening thighs, I got my first bite after a few hours! I pulled up what could only be a monster and was greeted with exactly that. A beautiful fish four-inch fish that I was told not to touch as it was poisonous? A lot was lost in translation as I barely got a photo with my beast, which was flung back into the Thai Gulf.

We moved closer to a group of scuba divers off the private island of Nang Yuan, and I half expected to pull up a Dutch beginner scuba diver, but the fish finally started to like what we were baiting them into. Everyone was catching lots of snappers! The lunch rush was working well, and that's when I finally felt a worthwhile tug.

This bite was much stronger than the previous ones, so I attempted to set the hook hard. I grabbed the rod from the holder and went to pull up with force, and instead was met with a game of tug of war and the fish had the upper hand as I wound up on the deck scrambling to keep the fish on the end of the line. The hood was set, and I reeled for my life in hopes of not losing this fish and that it was larger than the fish I caught earlier.

After a good five minutes of battle with this beast, I could see how large it was! The relief of landing a big fish after about four hours of fishing was unbeatable. Once netted, we could see it was an African Pompano. A beautiful fish that doesn't have scales, it is known as one of the most edible fish in the world, and it turns out you can catch them nowhere near Africa.

The next decision was what do we do with these fish. Lying on the deck were about ten large and edible fish, but all of us could commit to putting them in the hotel room mini-fridge. Elad suggested we try to filet them, and he took over with my pompano, hacking away at this beautiful fish with a dull butcher knife. The meat was a perfect translucent white and very fatty in parts. The Captian was happy to take the rest of the day's pleasures for "Tom Yum Tom Yum!" with a smile stretching from ear to ear.

Filets on ice, we wandered the town for someone to cook them for us. I initially thought this was a more significant task than it ended up, but the second store we asked for was happy to do it for us. We waited, and two unique dishes came—one sweet and sour sauce with our fried fish and a rich Tom Yum with the African Pompano. I can easily say this was the best fish I have eaten on this trip and might be in contention for the best meal of the trip. I am sure there is some bias, but my compliments to the chef for surprising us with an impressive variation on what we caught just a few minutes earlier.

Experiences like these are what I wanted to get out of traveling. Sitting next to a stranger on a ferry and, twenty-four hours later, sharing a meal with the fish we caught. Ideal!