Merg: You have every right to like or not like any given magazine, but to complain about too many ads is simply not rational.

ALL magazines have an add to editorial ratio. The ads pay for the words. It's that simple. When a magazine has more adds they can increase content. When add sales drop content must as well.

Subscriptions do not pay the bill at STS or any other magazine I know of.

I once had a crusty old editor chop off the last three paragraphs of a story. When I asked why he said, "I sold a bigger add."

Take a look at a big national magazine like Ophra - tons of adds, because the readers like the content. It seems to me the more ads a magazine has the better it is doing. Why do they do well? Because readers like what they read.

Please tell me of any other fishing magazine that has more articles per issue. I do not know of any. I just checked a recent STS. It had 16 articles and features. A comparable Salmon Steelhead Journal – which is a fine magazine, had eight.