I understand that the VBS on baitcasters helps reduce backlashing at the end of the cast. My question is how many pins should you have on/off for different types of casts? When pitching/flipping/skipping would it be best to have all pins on or would that be too much? For long distance casts should they all be off? Or do most fisherman have one setting for all casts? Also, is it best to have the pin across from another pin in the same setting or have a few in a row in same setting?

For all my casting I only use 2 pins, straight across from each other.

Well I've only been fishing baitcasters for about a year so I might not be the best expert but I will tell you what I know.  I usually have 2 or 3 of them on for any type of cast I do depending on wind, etc.  I don't really flip though, still working on mastering it.  The more you have on the more it will brake, making your casts shorter.  So its a personal preference thing really, if you can cast consistently with no backlashes with no brakes on then go for it but if you can't do that then put maybe 3 or so on and see what you can do then.  As for skipping I do that with spinning gear.  It's a whole lot easier.  Setting the brakes across from eachother like you described is the correct process.  Hope that helps

Centrifugal brakes help to prevent overruns at the beginning of the cast. As the spool slows, the pins retract, producing less and less braking friction. At the end of the cast, they're doing nothing. You need your thumb at that point.

Something in me likes the idea of balance, so if I have two brakes set, they are opposite each other. For three, I'll set every other one. I don't know if this actually makes any difference. If I had to guess, I'd say not.

Start out with three brakes on, and practice. As your thumb becomes educated, you can go down to two. I don't know anybody who keeps them all off, all the time. You'd have to have a very "smart" thumb to pull that off, on a consistent basis.

Cheers,

GK