Rich German and his friend Matthew Wheaton were on their boards when the sunfish, also known as a mola mola, approached.
German believes the fish, which they encountered on December 2, was at least nine feet in size.
He added: 'My buddy, Matt, and I were just paddling and came across it - it was hard to miss!
'It's hard to compare a sunfish to other creatures because they are so bizarre looking - they look like a mutilated shark that got bitten in half.
'I've seen many over the years but this was definitely the biggest.'
The world's largest bony fish by weight was another sunfish caught in 1996 off Kamogawa - a city in Chiba, Japan, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
That specimen weighed 2,300kg and measured 8ft 11in long.
Julianne Steers of the Beach Ecology Coalition said the fish spotted by German and Wharton was larger than the normal size fish seen off Laguna Beach.
She told the OC Register: 'The only true way to know is if it was out and weighed and officially measured.'
Initially it was thought that sunfish floated on ocean currents, but now researchers believe they can travel two miles per hour swimming up to 16 miles per day.
The scientific name for the sunfish is a mola mola. They are omnivores and can live up to ten years and can weigh up to two-and-a-half tonnes.
Sunfish are the heaviest of all bony fish and can get infested by parasites.
The sunfish are harmless to humans but are incredibly vulnerable. They are known to die after eating plastic bags which they confuse with jellyfish.
Source: Daily Mail, Instagram, OC Register
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patryn.worldlatestnews
German believes the fish, which they encountered on December 2, was at least nine feet in size.
He added: 'My buddy, Matt, and I were just paddling and came across it - it was hard to miss!
'It's hard to compare a sunfish to other creatures because they are so bizarre looking - they look like a mutilated shark that got bitten in half.
'I've seen many over the years but this was definitely the biggest.'
The world's largest bony fish by weight was another sunfish caught in 1996 off Kamogawa - a city in Chiba, Japan, according to the Guinness Book of Records.
That specimen weighed 2,300kg and measured 8ft 11in long.
Julianne Steers of the Beach Ecology Coalition said the fish spotted by German and Wharton was larger than the normal size fish seen off Laguna Beach.
She told the OC Register: 'The only true way to know is if it was out and weighed and officially measured.'
Initially it was thought that sunfish floated on ocean currents, but now researchers believe they can travel two miles per hour swimming up to 16 miles per day.
The scientific name for the sunfish is a mola mola. They are omnivores and can live up to ten years and can weigh up to two-and-a-half tonnes.
Sunfish are the heaviest of all bony fish and can get infested by parasites.
The sunfish are harmless to humans but are incredibly vulnerable. They are known to die after eating plastic bags which they confuse with jellyfish.
Visit Rich German Instagram: https://bit.ly/3dOwGcf
Music: You Should - Patrick PatrikiosSource: Daily Mail, Instagram, OC Register
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patryn.worldlatestnews
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