所謂的釣魚工程是指在決策階段被描述為造價很低、見效很快，但在實際建設過程中，建設單位不斷變更資金預算，迫使投資部門不斷追加投資，最終決算超預算、預算超概算、實際造價大大超出原先計劃的那些工程。釣魚工程可以翻譯成boondoggle，也可以翻譯成wasteful project或 black-hole project。

例句：

Critics are also increasingly viewing nation building in the mostly rural and tribal nation as a social engineering boondoggle.

—— Excerpt from Experts divided on whether US troops should pull out of Afghanistan 

But there's also a real threat that the infatuation with biofuels is a political expediency that will turn into a classic government boondoggle, benefiting selected constituencies and providing few genuine public benefits. That has already happened with corn.

—— Excerpt from Don't Be in Awe of Bush's Belief in Biofuels