I've caught fish both ways but not enough to know if one is more effective then the other. A lot depends on the type of structure your fishing I think too. Boon dogging(with the bait dragging behind the boat) seems to eat up a lot more gear in snaggy rivers for me. Although if I had to guess I'd say I've had slightly more action boon dogging then side drifting. Side drifting is sort of like drift fishing with a super long drift. The most common technique I've used is the fast walking drift as I'm not lucky enough to have a boat. It's the getting back part that sucks