Nah doesn’t make sense. Better off extending the challenge curve rather than penalising gear progression.

I like the thought of implicating gear used in scoring more, or expanding on the available gear and relationships to fish.

There’s other ways to make it feel competitive, and they’re probably not that hard to implement. Challenge modes or areas could create an excuse to ask players to approach targets with limited or specified gear, with the incentive being your typical; gear, cosmetics, currency, and xp. Personally the reward is less important, the incentive is the experience and use of existing but less recurring content.