Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 95 is my catch-up conversation with David Mangum, the Florida Panhandle guide many anglers call the mad scientist of tarpon fishing. David runs Shallow Water Expeditions, and he is as much an artist and photographer as he is a guide. We talk about the analytical obsession that drives his tarpon fishing, how he left an art-school path to chase the guide life, a surf trip to Nicaragua, and what the Mexico Beach area looked like in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael.
Listen now: press play in the player above to watch the full conversation, or stream Episode 95 on your favorite podcast app.
David Mangum is a Florida Panhandle fishing guide and the owner of Shallow Water Expeditions, widely known in the saltwater fly world as the mad scientist of tarpon fishing. He is also an artist and photographer with a deeply analytical approach to the water. He has fished since he was a child, left an art-school path to pursue guiding, and built a reputation for paying close attention to the smallest details of tarpon behavior.
The nickname comes from how analytical he is. David describes himself as constantly looking at all the little pieces and trying to put together a puzzle while he guides. He pays close attention to details that many anglers overlook, treating each day of tarpon fishing like an experiment. In the episode he explains how that mindset shapes the way he positions a boat and coaches an angler on the bow.
David draws a sharp line between loving to fish and becoming a guide. He explains that he stopped fishing with a rod himself years ago and evolved past needing to hold the rod and catch the fish. For him the next step is the person on the front of the boat becoming his rod, with his guidance and words doing the work. He warns people who simply love to fish that guiding is a completely separate thing.
David fishes the Mexico Beach and Panhandle area constantly, especially for summer tarpon. Days after Hurricane Michael he took a boat into Mexico Beach and describes a surreal, silent scene of boats attached to wood and pieces of houses, water bubbling up from concrete slabs where plumbing had been torn off, and damage so total that people who drove through kept saying it looked like a bomb went off.
David fished from the time he could hold a rod, with a father who planted the seed early. When he felt school was moving too slowly during an art career path, he decided he wanted to get out and live his life. He started cold-calling the small classified ads in the back of fly fishing magazines until one connected, which led to a chance to guide, including time spent guiding in Alaska.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 95 with David Mangum is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts. The video version is embedded at the top of this page.
David and I go back a long way, and I had not caught up with him in quite some time. He is one of the most creative people I know in this world, a guide, an artist, and a photographer all at once, and people far and wide know him as a guy who pays attention to details most of us never even notice. We had a lot to talk about, from a recent trip to what he has coming up next.
Press play in the player above to hear the whole conversation.
David gets the scientist thing a lot, and he owns it. He describes himself as analytical to a fault, always breaking the day into little pieces and trying to solve the puzzle in front of him. Within five minutes of fishing with him I could tell he might be even crazier about the details than I am. He explains how that obsession actually plays out on a tarpon boat. Worth hearing in his own words.
This is the part of our talk I keep coming back to. David stopped fishing with a rod himself years ago, and he frames guiding as a step you evolve into once catching the fish yourself stops being the point. The angler on the bow becomes his rod, and his guidance is the cast. The way he describes that shift says a lot about why some people are built to guide and most are not. Listen to that section of the episode.
David fishes the Mexico Beach area constantly, so when he took a boat in days after Hurricane Michael, he knew exactly what should have been there and what was gone. He describes the silence, the boats lodged in debris, the water bubbling out of broken slabs. It is one of the most vivid descriptions of hurricane aftermath I have heard, and it hits harder because he knew the place before. Press play in the player above.
David could have gone down an art career path, but school felt like slow motion and he wanted to live his life right now. So he started dialing the tiny classified squares in the back of fly fishing magazines, one after another, until one finally led somewhere, eventually putting him on the water as a guide, including a stretch in Alaska. It is a great reminder that some careers start with nothing but a phone and nerve. Scroll up and watch the player above.
Listen to the full conversation: press play in the YouTube player at the top of this page.
What I love about catching up with David is that he never stopped being curious. He treats tarpon like a problem worth obsessing over, he sees the water like an artist, and he carries all of it lightly.
The storm stories are heavy, but the throughline is the same one that makes him great on the bow: he pays attention. That habit is the whole reason people call him the mad scientist.
Press play in the player above to hear how it all fits together.
David Mangum · Shallow Water Expeditions · Mexico Beach, Florida · Hurricane Michael · Nicaragua · Florida Panhandle · Alaska
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
David Mangum is a Florida Panhandle fishing guide and the owner of Shallow Water Expeditions, known throughout the saltwater fly fishing community as the mad scientist of tarpon fishing for his deeply analytical, detail-obsessed approach. An accomplished artist and photographer as well as a guide, he has fished since childhood, guided as far afield as Alaska, and built his reputation along the Gulf Coast chasing tarpon in shallow water.
Subscribe to get the latest episodes, show notes, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.