A thief has been caught on camera hooking a gold necklace with a fishing rod in a brazen nighttime theft from an Australian designer store. The thief, captured on CCTV, broke the store window in Melbourne's central business district before using a fishing rod to hook the Versace necklace, local police said Wednesday.

But it took the inner-city angler nearly three hours to land his catch. Victoria police posted video of the man on social media.

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

After first attempts with a smaller rod failed, the man decided to get a bigger rod, eventually snagging the gold $700 piece from a mannequin's neck in a crime police described as — until now — unseen.

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"It's fairly blatant and it's quite bold as well, to have someone attend with a fishing rod in the middle of the night," Victoria Police Senior Constable Bede Whitty said.

Police said they are looking for the brazen, balding thief. In addition to the fishing rod, the middle-aged suspect was wearing a blue Lonsdale windbreaker and gray tracksuit pants.