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I recently bought a relatively large (~2lbs) filet of salmon. In order to portion it out I placed it skin side up on a cutting board and used a bread knife to essentially saw through the skin as it seemed pretty tough.
Is a bread knife the best option in this case? Is this something that should be done with a kitchen knife?
I think a bread knife would shred the skin and flesh. I would place skin side down and, ideally, use a sharp slicing knife. Sharp is the key. I have also used a chef's knife and a fillet knife for this task. The goal is to achieve a clean cut.
The ideal knife for this would be a fillet or boning knife, however if you don't have one a non-serrated knife would give you the best looking cut. There's no reason you cannot use a serrated knife, it's more cosmetic than anything else.
This may scandalize some cooks, but after years of struggling to cut through salmon skin, I have finally found a solution: use kitchen shears or scissors! They must be clean, and you'll have to wash them afterwards, but presto! Nice, neatly cut portions.
