Avid anglers Justin Foster, Mitchell Spillane and Grant Crotty will set out this morning ready to hook the big one - but with their own twist on the annual Lake Hawea Hotel fishing competition.
Regular entrants in the popular competition, the trio three years ago devised their own personal event - to see who could catch the biggest fish using a self-made lure - a move which last year netted Mr Foster the heaviest catch in the overall competition.
The Lake Hawea builder landed the fish with his self-made "woolly bugger" - a lure he fashioned from "a couple of pipe cleaners, some tinsel and a bit of florist ribbon".
The 2.494kg rainbow, caught near the Dingleburn, won Mr Foster $500 prize but, more importantly, allowed him to keep the trio's own "Annual Brokeback Silverware".
He is aiming for a hat-trick with his new lure, the "Aquatic Destroyer", fashioned from similar materials to the "woolly bugger".
The trio fish from Cromwell-based Mr Spillane's boat, Lady Betty, and may use their self-made lures for a nominated hour only each day.
The biggest fish caught using a self-made lure during that time takes home the winning trophy - an antique engraved silver plate.
Mr Spillane, who for this year's competition has swapped his Ford key-ring lure for one fashioned from a Holden Commodore key ring, badly wants to win the trophy.
Mr Crotty is also keen to get his hands on the trophy for the first time and was hoping his plumbing and gas-fitting skills would foil Mr Foster's dragonfly-shaped design.
Lake Hawea Hotel publican John Shea said entries for the two-day competition had been steady, with about "100 or so" boats expected on the lake today.
There is a prize pool of several thousands of dollars up for grabs, with the overall heaviest fish netting its owner $500 cash.
