Couple of firsts for me today

I've been trying for the last couple of years to get a salmon from my kayak and have been getting pretty frustrated. I've caught coho from the beach and from the river but they've eluded me from the yak. I went out to try to find a couple of silvers this morning and not 20 minutes into my first pass up the beach, I hooked up to what I knew must have been a King. After what felt like about 10 minutes of fighting (probably wasn't) and trying to maintain my balance I was able to bring it up to the boat. I'm not that great at judging weight but I'm guessing it was somewhere between 12 and 15 pounds. I was fishing area 9 so I had to release and wave goodbye. To be honest, I never even looked at the adipose fin since I knew it had to go back. I need to get in the habit of always looking at that first. So, no dinner, but it was a great feeling to shake the skunk off.

Black magic (or Black Jack, can't remember) Brad's superbait cut plug with a strip of herring inside, 10 oz. weight on a dropper (lot of current where I'm fishing), no flasher. It was hooked on the trailing hook right in the corner of the mouth and was released relatively unharmed.

I saw lots of activity on the fishfinder but that was my only hookup. Wondering if the Brad's cut plugs are a little big for coho? Seems like they shouldn't be. I know they make a smaller version and I'm thinking they might be a better size for silvers. Anyone else use the little ones?

I know a few people that do quite well on the smaller ones.  I plan to pick a couple up this weekend to try since the coho are in.

Nice Job Andy, catching a keeper is nice, but nothing quite like the thump when you know it's not a silver.  I'm hoping to feel that again soon after a drought myself.

Full size Brad's work great for coho. I landed several fish on them last year and have caught a couple of resident fish this year. Blackjack, blue hawaiian and mountain dew all caught fish, but I doubt if color matters that much. I always use the herring strip, either inside or on the top hook.

Thanks for the experiences/opinions on the sm. vs. reg. size Brad's. I know coho will take a real herring that large so it makes sense that they'd take the standard size. Brad's.

One other "first" for me today was that I found a "body" floating in the water. I saw the top of a head and a pair of hands just at the surface and pedaled over to it. Fortunately it was some kind of dummy or something (plastic). It had a rather official looking  green camo shirt on. I don't know if was a joke or fell off a navy ship or what. I know the Navy does SEAL training in our area. Freaked me out till I got close enough to see what was what...I left it alone.

Nice Job Andy, catching a keeper is nice, but nothing quite like the thump when you know it's not a silver.  I'm hoping to feel that again soon after a drought myself.

It's also nice fishing without 30 powerboat "friends" all around you! Still, would like to get a keeper king though. In due time...