All of these suggestions have worked for me, even the pantyhose trick. 
The pantyhose will clog up fairly quickly, but are a good fine mesh. I haven't tried swimming trunks, but I have used an old, ripped fish net that I wrapped around the intake and secured and that worked very well and didn't clog, but is pretty ugly. The best is really a sponge attachment.
The pantyhose will clog up fairly quickly, but are a good fine mesh. I haven't tried swimming trunks, but I have used an old, ripped fish net that I wrapped around the intake and secured and that worked very well and didn't clog, but is pretty ugly. The best is really a sponge attachment.
