Sad news...The Chef Memorial thread

Chef was a great guy and I will sadly miss him. My fondest memory of Stephen was watching him, CHUB, Jdyak and Zilla paddle out for a prefish at last years Elk tourney in some nasty conditions. It was cool looking from the cliff above at the four of them headed out.I am glad CHUB got to do that with him and see someone like that deal with adversity the way he did.
Now Chef is watching all of us from the cliffs above.

I remember that Day well, the swell was big but Chef was like lets go, We all paddled out to the rock and started fishing.  These were the biggest swells, I've fished in.  ( so big that I was fishing bow into the swell )  Fishing was slow, but with the company, it was one of the most memorable times on the water.  Chef wasn't feeling the greatest, but we stuck it out.  We were able to catch a 9.8 pound ling that Chef turned into the best cerviche I've ever had.

I will always remember the first time I met Chef which was at Davenport with alot of the original NCKA members.  He was one of those people, you knew you liked him from the first moment you met him.

Tight lines my friend.

John

A couple more:

Steve in front of Jasper Caves




Jade gaff:

I just got the heartbreaking news from Freddie.  I was planning to visit him in La Jolla next week.  I don't know what to say.

Chef was such a good friend.  I'll never forget him.  He's NCKA's first member to pass away.

Here are a couple pics from our epic Big Sur trip in May 2005.

We were headed down on the 12th...a few days late.  I am so bummed.  Love all of the pics.

A great thread here for chef. says a lot about both him and his friends here on the board.

J

A few pictures from September 2004 when BobN and I met Chef at Limekiln in Big Sur -- one of his favorite places to fish and find jade.

I will miss you man.

Chef trying to give Mooch a nice ramming.

This pic was the first time I met Chef.....and as you can see, it didn't take long for me to like this guy  By the end of the day, he was ready to ram me into the water

I remember paddling right next to him as we were trolling for stripers in the Forebay. I managed to catch a couple while trolling next to Chef. He was in a mission to catch at least one keeper. He told me it was his plan to cook the striper (his favorite fish to cook) for his "anniversary dinner" with his girlfriend (at the time). At the end, he come up empty handed. I gave him one of mine and he was thankfull. I simply told me that he owed me a guided halibut trip to Monterey....he smiled and said "you got it"   I will miss him....


God bless you Steve Blackwell......you are in a better place 

note: this pic was taken before he had his FIRST bout with cancer....

Chef with the "Year-end Big fish winner of 2005"
24 Pound Halibut from Monterey.

Chef at Fort Ross....

Chef at Limeklin....

One of thee most nicest people I have ever met.  Thank you Steve for everything.   

Steve you sure could FISH!!!!!!!! I'm sorry we only shared water's once. You'll be remembered the way a good yak fisher should be.

Words cannot express the sadness.  Chef will be missed and always remain an inspiration.

Jason

That is really sad to hear. I got to meet Chef at Elk last year. We are both from San Diego and talked about home. He will be missed...........

Sorry to hear such bad news. I would like to send my condolence to the family. Be at peace brother.