considering buying a pump

worried about all of the hop gunk and clogging up the pump when it comes time to brew, it this something that's easily dealt with or is this a significant issue for others.

Most people that use pumps, also somewhat filter their wort before the pump, or use a hop spider to keep the majority of it in check.

If you're using whole hops, I'd at least do something to keep the majority of them out of there. Even something as easy as a stainless steel scrubby over your pickup tube should be enough to keep the majority of it out. I generally use pellet hops, and other than the whirlpooling I'm doing with the pump anyways, I haven't had any troubles with clogging of any sort. My pickup tube is angled towards the side of my BK so that should cut down on pickup somewhat, but I haven't bothered with a filter of any sort. Of course in the next batch or two I'll be doing a big IIPA, so we'll see if I still believe that in a month or so.