Taken from the
wiki:
How to Fish
Fishing with casting rod can be tricky, because instead of a timer that displays when fishing with Bushcraft Fishingpole, you have to play a minigame of sorts. When the fish bites, a pop-up will show with text "A fish bites!" and four options - Pull up, Pull right, Pull down, Pull left. After you click one of them, your character animation may change, there is 3 fishing animations: when you got fish on hook, when you choose wrong and when you choose right. Right one is when the character pulls his pole up. You need to get this animation three times in a row in order to catch fish. Right options change randomly.
It has a verification tag on it, so, take it as you wish..
Personal experience has revealed a similar experience to yours. So, I quit trying to fish...well..actually I just became busy with baking...but yea..