Rather than “fish for a bonus,” I would say the player should be describing their action with the goal of removing the possibility for failure first and foremost, possibly by a means that will utilize one of their proficiencies if one of their proficiencies if a possibility of failure remains. And, well, yes, I do believe the intent in 5e is for that burden to be on the player. One of the big differences I perceive in play between the 3e/4e style and the 5e style is who’s describing what the character does. In my experience with 3e and 4e, typically the DM describes the environment, the players describe their goals, the DM calls for a check, and describes the approach and the outcome based on the results. Whereas in 5e, the DM describes the environment, the players describe both their goals and the approaches they use to try and achieve them, and the player describes the results, calling for a check if necessary to resolve uncertainty in the results.