A jaguar guapote weighing 3.02 pounds and stretching 16 inches turned up in a Westwood Lakes canal in Miami-Dade County on August 30, according to a search-result snippet from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's state-record listings that credits the catch to angler Xzavier Peon. The listing has not been independently verified against the underlying FWC record entry, but if it holds up, it would edge out a Florida record that has stood since 2017.
That earlier mark belongs to then-14-year-old Miami angler Jerry Martin, who reeled in a 2.78-pound, 16.7-inch jaguar guapote from the Snapper Creek Canal, also known as C-2, using live bait. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission certified that fish on September 5, 2017, calling it the first confirmed state record for the species. As reported by tampafp.com, Peon is 16 years old and caught his fish while using live bait, mirroring the method that produced the 2017 record.
A Fish Species Most Anglers Have Never Heard Of
Jaguar guapote are native to the Atlantic slope of Central America, ranging from Honduras to Costa Rica, according to FishBase. In Florida, the species was first reported in 1992 from a photograph of two specimens caught near Miami Canal, per the FWC's species profile. The fish are established primarily in southeast Florida's urban canal networks, with FWC noting their range extends as far north as West Palm Beach, and they are known to tolerate poor water quality typical of the region's box-cut canal systems.
Jaguar guapote are medium-sized opportunistic predators that feed mainly on small fish, including other exotic species, and aquatic insects, the agency's profile states. They are one of 34 nonnative freshwater fish species that have become established in Florida waterways. The species became eligible for Florida state-record status in 2012, according to Coastal Angler Magazine, though the first certified record was not logged until 2017 — meaning that mark, if the 2026 catch is confirmed, would have held for nearly a decade.
How Florida Verifies a Record Catch
Certifying a Florida freshwater record is not as simple as posting a photo. FWC requires that the fish be caught legally on hook and line in Florida fresh waters by an angler holding a valid freshwater fishing license or a qualifying exemption. An FWC employee must witness the fish weighed on a scale certified by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and for any species other than largemouth bass, an FWC fisheries biologist must physically inspect the catch to confirm its identity.
The bar for dethroning an existing record is precise, too. For fish weighing up to five pounds, a challenger must exceed the standing record by 0.02 pounds — the nearest quarter ounce, by FWC's own description. At 3.02 pounds against Martin's 2.78-pound benchmark, the new catch would clear that threshold with room to spare, though the dossier's underlying record entry for the 2026 fish was not available for direct confirmation.
Why Florida Wants Anglers to Eat These Fish
FWC actively encourages anglers to catch, keep, and eat most nonnative species pulled from Florida waters, with two notable exceptions carved out of that blanket recommendation: peacock bass and triploid grass carp. Nonnative fish like jaguar guapote can crowd out native wildlife, and officials say most of these introduced species also happen to be good table fare, giving anglers an incentive to thin their numbers.
The flip side of that equation is strict: releasing aquarium fish into Florida waters or transferring fish between separate water systems is illegal, and the FWC says both practices harm native ecosystems. There are currently no bag or size limits on jaguar guapote, per the agency's species profile, which gives anglers wide latitude to remove them from canals where they have taken hold.
Programs Anglers Can Tap Into
Beyond the state-record program, FWC runs the TrophyCatch citizen-science initiative, which recognizes anglers who catch, document, and release largemouth bass weighing eight pounds or more. The agency's separate Big Catch program awards certificates for qualifying catches across more than 30 species, giving recreational anglers another way to get official recognition without chasing an outright record.
Anglers curious about where the jaguar guapote record currently stands can check the listings at myfwc.com/freshwater under the state record tab, and those with questions can reach their nearest FWC regional office through myfwc.com/contact. For now, the Westwood Lakes catch stands as a striking entry in Florida's ongoing tally of nonnative species reshaping its urban canals, one hook-and-line catch at a time.
