For seven years, village-based recorders monitored fish catches and water levels in seven floodplain-associated lakes of the Lower Rufiji, Tanzania. The lakes differ in the number of days and volume of inflows fromthe river, and thus provide a natural experiment to explore the links between catch composition, income per hour offishing (IPHF) and hydrological connectivity, and to analyse the response of the users. The fishers adapt their fish-ing mode and equipment to achieve a rather constant IPHF of between 0.2 and 0.8 US$/fisher/hour. In situationsof low connectivity, during a series of drought years, the less well-connected lakes lost many species and became avirtual monoculture ofOreochromis urolepis.Only in one extreme case was average fish size significantly reduced,indicating a high fishing pressure. Catch was therefore highly resilient to shifts toward illegal, non-selective andactive fishing techniques. Fish diversity and lake productivity were quickly re-established when the larger lakesreconnected. The potential impacts of changes in the flood hydrograph (through dams, increased abstraction orclimate/land-use changes) are assessed, and management options discussed.The REMP was funded by DGIS, TheNetherlands, and implemented by the Rufiji DistrictCouncil with technical support from IUCN. After theend of the REMP, the IRD and the Water and LandProgramme of the French Ministry for Environmentprovided additional support.