It’s a rare angler to seek compliments with hesitation (6)
I believe the answer is:
fisher
'it's a rare angler' is the definition.
(uncommon term for an angler)
'seek compliments with hesitation' is the wordplay.
'seek compliments' becomes 'fish' (as in to fish for compliments).
'with hesitation' becomes 'er' (I've seen this in other clues).
'fish'+'er'='FISHER'
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for fisher that I've seen before include "UK shipping forecast area" , "Marten; angler" , "One who angles" , "Jeremy - (Beatrix Potter)" .)