While David Mangum’s guide career began in Alaska’s Bristol Bay back in 1995, it wasn’t until he returned to his home waters of Apalachicola, Florida, that he really began to make a name for himself. Mangum admits that tarpon have really shaped his career and are definitely his specialty but he is also a force to be reckoned with amongst a growing fleet of guides chasing monster redfish in the marshes of Louisiana.
Between Florida and Louisiana, Mangum averages somewhere between 220 and 240 days on the water (depending on hurricanes) each year. Mangum is a published photographer and has been the focus of articles appearing in publications such as Fly Fishing in Salt Waters and Garden & Gun. He is also an accomplished videographer whose work has been seen in popular fly-fishing films such as Bulls on Top, Rebound, Riding High: The Science of Tarpon, A Kinetic Loop and Out of Touch. On the conservation front, Mangum has played an integral role in the satellite tagging efforts of the Bonefish Tarpon Trust and The Rosentiel School of Marine Science. On top of all of these accolades, in November of 2014, Mangum guided client Dotty Ballantyne to the Women’s World Record redfish, a 40 lb. giant landed on 12 lb. tippet.
