Keith Lusher 09.22.26
A 16-year-old Miami angler has landed his name in the Florida record books after catching a jaguar guapote that topped a state record that had stood for nine years.
Xzavier Peon caught the 3.02-pound fish in the Westwood Lakes area of Miami using live bait. The jaguar guapote measured 16 inches long and was later certified as a new Florida state record by fisheries biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Peon said the fish caught him by surprise.
“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 catch was officially confirmed by the FWC in September 2026.
Lakes and canals around Westwood Lakes in Miami-Dade County are home to a variety of freshwater fish, including jaguar guapote
Jaguar guapote are not native to Florida. The species is found mainly in the urban canal systems of Southeast Florida, where several tropical fish species have become established.
Florida made jaguar guapote eligible for state record recognition in 2012. The first state record for the species was certified in 2017 and remained in place until Peon’s catch this year.
The fish is one of more than 30 nonnative freshwater species now established in Florida waters.
While species such as jaguar guapote can give anglers an unusual fishing opportunity, the FWC encourages fishermen to remove most nonnative fish they catch.
The agency recommends that anglers catch, keep and eat nonnative freshwater fish whenever possible to help control their numbers and reduce possible impacts on native species. Peacock bass and triploid grass carp are exceptions because both were legally introduced and are managed differently.
Many of Florida’s nonnative fish are also considered good table fare.
The FWC warns anglers not to release aquarium fish into lakes, canals or rivers. Moving nonnative fish from one body of water to another is also illegal. Such releases can allow additional species to become established and potentially harm native fish and other parts of Florida’s aquatic ecosystems.
The jaguar guapote has become an established nonnative species in South Florida waters
Anglers who believe they have caught a Florida state record can contact an FWC regional office to have the fish evaluated.
The agency also recognizes notable freshwater catches through its Big Catch program, which awards certificates for qualifying fish from more than 30 freshwater species.
For Peon, though, the latest catch has already earned something much harder to come by.
At just 16 years old, he now owns a Florida state fishing record.
