My name is Louis DeVos.  I live in Northern NJ (Chester) with a lovely wife, three kiddos, two cats, two dogs, and two (as of today) fish.  I have been on this list for about 2.5 years, and rod making for 3 (11 rods so far).  My first 10 years were spent in Europe, then Northwest Connecticut through high school, Washington DC through college/career start/marriage/kids 1 and 2, and then Jersey in 2005 and kid 3.  I am a VP for a multifamily property management company, and my office is 6 minutes from my home (jealous anyone….?). 

My pet fishing-related peeve is when some meathead encroaches on the water I am working (and I hate to say it, and start a flame war, but they usually are not carrying a fly rod).  This happens a bit in Jersey.

I started fly fishing after “The Movie”, and have been fortunate to fish many great rivers both East and West.  I purchased my first boo rod (Orvis Midge) in 1998, but am not exactly sure what started my rod building adventure.  I must thank many of you for help, but especially Tony L, Al B., and of course the starter of this thread! I enjoy trying different building techniques, and have built nodeless rods, ferrules, and soon wish to try my hand at impregnating (that always sounds a little weird) rods as well as hollowing or scalloping.

I am fortunate to live near some good (for New Jersey) water, but find that I would rather build rods than fish (until I get to new water every other year when my family heads to Durango for a family reunion).

Anyway, I love walks at dusk, candlelight dinners, great conversation, and someone who can make me laugh.    Oops – wrong submission.

Anyway, I would love to thank all of you who have made this award possible, but most especially my agent, my parents, the Academy, and most importantly, my wonderful fans!!!!.   Oops – wrong awards speech.