A 16-year-old angler ended a nine-year record after he caught a jaguar guapote in Miami, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said.
According to FWC, Xzavier Peon caught the record-breaking jaguar guapote in the Westwood Lakes area while using live bait.
The jaguar guapote weighed 3.02 pounds and measured 16 inches long.
FWC said that the previous record stood for nine years in 2017 when the jaguar guapote was made eligible for state record status in 2012.
“When I hooked it, I thought it was a peacock bass,” said Peon in a statement. “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.”
FWC said that Jaguar guapote are found in the urban canal systems of Southeast Florida.