Alot of people think they know David Mangum: the skull buoys, the salty flats guide with a stiff upper lip and ever-present stink eye. But spend a day on the water with him, and you’ll realize that’s not really Mangum. I grew up in Maine around some old-timer lobster fishermen, and before even meeting Mangum I recognized similarities that left me feeling I already knew him to a degree—which speaks, in a way, to all great fishermen being something of a type.

The wonder years. A young David Mangum stands beside his seafoam green aluminum Mirrocraft. The color of his boats and his curiosity haven’t changed since the photo was taken.

Left to right: Alaskan grayling. Mangum spent a couple formative years in the ’90s as a guide in Alaska.

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