Hi Neil, hope you are having a better season than me....I have had one outing (opening night) and blanked
Anyway, to the matter in hand. I don't use inline feeders, tried them, didn't like them...but then that's just me, and means nowt. One thing to think about though is that when using a standard feeder, the method you use to attach the feeder to the reel line should be in some way weaker than the reel line, so that if the feeder gets snagged up, it breaks free, leaving the hook link and possibly a fish, still attached (just as a bomb would be attached).
However, an inline feeder used in the normal way has the reel line passing through it...which as far as I am aware, means that a snagged feeder = a problem. Obviously you could attach the feeder to a separate piece of line, or have the hook link attached paternoster style, as in a helicopter rig...but then, it would no longer be an 'inline feeder'. I see them as OK for silvers etc., but worrying for bigger, more powerful fish. There may well be a simple answer to this problem that I haven't thought of, because I do admit to a degree of senility (seriously
)....so if anyone knows the answer, please put me in the picture.
Cheers, Dave