Roland Martin, the legendary bass angler, TV host and all-around good guy, is in Utah this week, sampling the trout and bass fishing in the state, along with a little BYU football.

Chris Bailey of Reel Outdoors is shooting several shows with Martin, and my part in the adventure has been sharing my knowledge of Jordanelle Reservoir and helping them locate a few late-summer smallmouth bass.

I've been trying to get Roland to come fishing with me for eight years and the timing finally worked out last Friday.

We met on the boat ramp and my niece Jamie and I witnessed first-hand the making of his weekly fishing show.

In a borrowed Tracker boat (Roland didn't want to tow his boat the 3,000 miles from his home in Florida) he and Bailey began by asking which lures they should use.

I chose some 4-inch Yamamoto Senkos in various shades of green, and a small, 3-inch chartreuse grub with which to drop shot.

"What a beautiful morning," Roland said, as his cameraman took some time to film the lures and baits while still at the dock. "You know Don, this boat doesn't have a front fish finder, and the trolling motor isn't quite what I'm used to, but it's the best boat in the world.

"Do you know why?"

"No," I responded, "why is it the best boat in the world?"

"Because it's free," he said as he flashed me one of his world-class ear-to-ear grins.

The cameraman jumped in my boat and we shot footage of Bailey and Martin scoping out the area for a likely spot to catch some fish.

Their first fish of the day came while drop-shotting on a series of points in the Provo River Arm. We watched from across the bay while Martin hooked a nice smallie.

"SON," we heard Martin repeat his classic line as he displayed the first 2-pound bass. "These are aggressive fish."

They spent 12 hours filming and were able to catch a great representation of what Jordanelle offered. The largest fish weighed slightly less than 3 pounds, and the average fish was close to 12 inches in length. Though some of the fabled six and seven pounders didn't materialize, both Bailey and Martin caught some very nice fish.

My niece Jamie caught a couple of dozen bass while patiently putting up with my involvement in the production.

"I need to get a photo with Roland," she said, "so my co-workers will believe me when I tell them the story."

Back on the ramp, Martin posed for a photo which made Jamie's day.

Special thanks to Brent Daybell and Cliff Sacket for their help.

• Don Allphin can be reached at remaxdoa@gmail.com.