Buckhunter..
Those are absolutely BEAUTIFUL wild brown trout..

The rainbows are pretty too... Thanks for sharing the stories and the pictures..

I have the privelege of fishing some rather obscure, unstocked streams here in western NY that have some nice wild browns also, albeit the streams are not as big or as beautiful as the creeks you have posted pictures of..

Over the last few years I've been lucky enough to land a few fish in the 18-21" range.. They are always special...
I feel guilty about killing a lot of these gorgeous wild fish, but I always keep a few each year, because they taste so good..Much better than the stockies that the state puts in many of the local creeks and rivers..

Usually I keep a couple of fish to eat, and then after that I release them, unless they are hooked deep and I feel they won't survive..

What bait or lure are you using..??.. My favorite method is to drift live nite crawlers using light or UL spinning gear..