MIAMI, FL — A 3.02-pound, 16-inch jaguar guapote caught by a 16-year-old Miami angler has been certified as a new Florida state record, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Xzavier Peon caught the fish using live bait in the Westwood Lakes area of Miami. FWC fisheries biologists later certified the catch as the new state record for the species.
“When I hooked it, I thought it was a peacock bass,” Peon said. “But once the giant jaguar came up I knew that it was a state record almost instantly. We started freaking out once we realized it was a state record.”
Jaguar guapote are primarily found in urban canal systems in southeast Florida. The species became eligible for Florida state-record recognition in 2012, with the first record certified in 2017.
That record remained in place for nine years before Peon’s catch was confirmed in September 2026.
Jaguar guapote are among more than 30 nonnative freshwater fish species that have established populations in Florida.
FWC encourages anglers to catch, keep and eat nonnative fish to help control their populations and reduce potential impacts on native species. Exceptions include legally introduced peacock bass and triploid grass carp.
The agency also warns that releasing aquarium fish into the wild or moving nonnative fish between water systems is illegal and can harm Florida’s native fish and ecosystems.
Anglers who believe they have caught a state-record fish can contact their nearest FWC regional office to have the catch evaluated.
SOURCE: FLORIDA FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION COMMISSION
