I had the same issue at Sugar Island last 4th of july,have not been back since.
My cigarette has the merc transom mount pickup and i never had an issue .

I think you guys may be missing it. On mine it is getting stuck at a plastic fitting where the hose goes from inside my tranny box to the sea strainer. The inside id of that fitting baarley takes my pinky finger. It seems like it does it when I'm idling around a dock without enough water flow. It packs the hole solid and all the pressure from a garden hose forceing it down from the top knocks it loose. It looks like a rolled up cigar when it comes out. Then you need to pull it out the intake. Last year did and we pushed it backwards in the water and as soon as we started it back up it plugged it agian. The only way I have found is to put it back on the trailer and pull it out. Once it is iside the lower casing when in the water it just gets sucked back in.