MIAMI, Fla. — A 16-year-old Miami angler has set a new Florida state record for jaguar guapote after reeling in a 3.02-pound fish in the Westwood Lakes area, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Xzavier Peon caught the 16-inch jaguar guapote using live bait. FWC fisheries biologists certified the catch as the new state record in September 2026.
“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.”
The previous record had stood since 2017. Jaguar guapote became eligible for Florida state-record recognition in 2012, and the first record for the species was certified five years later.
Jaguar guapote are primarily found in urban canal systems in Southeast Florida. They are among more than 30 nonnative freshwater fish species established in the state.
FWC encourages anglers to catch, keep and eat nonnative fish — with the exception of legally introduced peacock bass and triploid grass carp — as a way to help limit their numbers and reduce potential impacts on native fish.
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 ecosystems.
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