Keeping junk out of the impeller

[Hvymtlc5]

Had the used GTX for the summer now and have ridden it maybe 10 times on lake Ozark....long story short 4 of the 10 times resulted in stuff being sucked up in the pump and having to limp home. New to jet skis so is this common? I'm an old guy and this is just to much work finding a lift, removing the grate and digging the debris out for the fun I'm getting from it.... I ride it pretty hard, but are there any tricks to keeping debris out??

 

[Seadoodoc]

We ride local shallow rivers a lot and I came up with an idea of a steel mesh screen welded on the intake. Made it 5 minutes down the river before it was clogged up with leaves and sticks. Amazing how much stuff blows through the prop.