Not one to be overcome by a setback, Fanning casually carved his way across to the intruding body boarder, ditched his surfboard and continued to ride the wave using the offender's back as a board.
Fanning, 34, uploaded the stunt to his Instagram with the caption, 'Got to love when your mate drop in on you! Instead of getting angry just surf them haha.'
The body boarder whose back served as a temporary surfboard for Fanning was either Dean or Shaun Harrington - twin brothers who make up the popular fishing duo 'The Mad Hueys.'
The Gold Coast twins are known for their ludicrous stunts - including swimming in shark-infested waters using only a budgie cage as a barrier and sculling beers through the heads of dead fish.
The original footage was taken by international film production group Garage Films, which used the caption: 'Fanning shredding on his new signature board 'the hazza twins' model at the super bank.'
It has been a tumultuous year for Fanning to say the least.
In July, the 34-year-old was competing in the finals of the World Surf League event at South Africa's Jeffreys Bay when a shark attacked him.
Fanning punched the great white, scaring it off, as compatriot and fellow finalist Julian Wilson paddled over to help.
The terrifying event sparked a wave of memes the world over, with video of the moment becoming one of the most watched news stories of the year.
While certainly shaken at the time, the scare didn't succeed in keeping Fanning out of the water for long, and four weeks afterwards he returned to the competition to fight for his fourth world championship.
He was struck however, with tragedy after his older brother Peter passed away in his sleep of a supposed 'enlarged heart' at just 43 years old.
Reports of his death emerged as Fanning paddled out at the Pipeline break in the north of Oahu, Hawaii, the final leg of the tournament.
The surfer was flanked by his devastated mother Elizabeth Osborne and wife Karissa Dalton as they attended an emotional service to farewell his brother on Tuesday.
Fanning - who lost another brother Sean, in a 1998 car accident - had previously penned a tribute to Peter on social media where he said he would 'always be a hero to me'.
'Like all my big brothers, Peter will always be a hero to me. I have so many great memories of the good times we have all spent together and they will be with me forever,' he wrote.
'We recently caught up and he told me how proud he was of me and how much he loves watching me compete. I knew I could find the strength to take part in the final event of the season because that's what Pete would want.'
