Not exactly my prefered game speed, but decided to check it out anyways.
I usually try to give actionable feedback, and I'll do my best, but it's entirely possible it's just not for me. It's cute, it's quirky, it's polished enough... but is it fun? ehh... for a little bit, sure... but not enough to hold down an entire game. It might not actually be that far off though, at least for a shorter title.
Catching fish one after another to fill out a single checklist on a seemingly endless list starts to feel like work. What feels missing is a progression curve. Your best teacher would be a game like Dredge. Yeah it's a fishing game, but it's the context around the fishing that matters, the story, upgrading your boat, traveling to new areas, discovering new fishing spots, doing quests, etc. You could add at least some of that stuff, for example:
- make the pages themselves unlockable so you're excited to earn new things
- diversify the upgrade system: what if instead of one fishing rod upgrade path you had different options? some better suited for different fish? maybe have an option that speeds up the animations but increases rarity, so like a skill choice. Agency over decisions like that can make people more invested.
- perhaps add special "boss" fish that have really long catch sequences, give people something to look forwards to.
- instead of bait being about rarity, maybe there are just different kinds of bait for different kinds of fish?
- perhaps some more dynamicness to the fish variety, like a time of day mechanic
There's lots of avenues for fun new ideas that hopefully won't break your game's identity.
Some more minor hiccups I notices:
Try a more handwritten looking font, it'd suit your style better than the clean one you have now
The Slippery and Zigzag rings don't look intentional, I thought my game lagged, maybe the animation should never fully stop?
The audio break at the music loop point is distracting
Keep at it, and good luck!