First cast all important. I am a big fan. One season I made myself count to 100 before every first cast to make sure I had the situation sized up right. All that prep work time with the gear, suiting up, hiking out to the spot, getting the time of day or night right, the tide right, definitely worth a 100 count to see if there is anything you should be noticing or taking advantage of. Plus, lets the area settle down a bit, or so the thinking went in my mind. That being said, my biggest fish ever came from walking down to the beach randomly with a random lure in the middle of the day and heaving it in no particular direction. Go figure.