Crowbars, hammers, baseball bats – they’re all sure to raise alarm up a dark city street.

But a fishing rod? It’s not the usual tool of the trade of the crooks police are trying to net.

That is, unless it’s the middle of the night, in the middle of a Melbourne laneway – with not a drop of water in sight.

In one of the more unusual burglaries officers are investigating this week, a persistent thief spent nearly three hours trying to hook an expensive piece of jewellery from a mannequin in a city shop.

CCTV shows the suspect carrying a fishing rod. Photo: Victoria Police

He eventually reeled in a Versace necklace.

Jewellery by the high-end brand usually sells for anywhere between $400 and thousands of dollars. Police have not released details of the exact necklace stolen.

Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit detectives have CCTV from the Little Collins Street business and are using it to track the man’s movements.

Anyone who saw the man, or anything suspicious in the area, around 2am on Monday February 24 is urged to call police.

The man is described as Caucasian, about 180cm tall, with short, fair receding hair. He is aged between 40 to 50 years old.

He was wearing a blue Lonsdale jumper with grey tracksuit pants and was carrying a long, black fishing rod.

Call Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000

WATCH: Security footage shows a man using a fishing rod to remove a Versace necklace from a mannequin within the store just after 2am. pic.twitter.com/9S103jZjv4

— Victoria Police (@VictoriaPolice) March 3, 2020