It's surrounding by concrete and fairly new cool deck.

Anything that I use has to make the bend...because it sucked it down enough to make the bend. And I think that's where we're really buggered.
We didn't really force the 'snake' because we didn't want to lodge it further down the line.

The skimmer line is about 1.5 inches at the opening, at what point does the pipe (pvc) get larger? Because the inlet from the ground to the pump is at least a 2" inch pipe.

A lot of water is getting passed this plug. Enough so that we could prime the pool and run the pumps and it doesn't increase the pressure. It must be wedged just so. It's a trapezoid shaped plug. I don't believe it's threaded either.

The only way to isolate the skimmer is to use another plug..or that weighted space ship looking disc thing.

We painted all of her pvc white. it was brown and beginning to looked cracked...and then identified each line with a sharpee. We never found a valve to isolate the drain or the skimmer line- hence the plug.
The pump timer switch is about 40 feet (on the outside of the front of the house) from the actual pump so it makes it difficult to shut it down when you're testing any of the valves. You almost neeed three people checking suction, pressure and one to flip the switch.
AAAAAh!
It's sort of a nightmare.
I heard that there's a flexible tool with a grabber on it...you feed it down, it grabs and locks on to the item and then you can rip it out.

I like the idea of drilling it to bits because I don't see how the heck we'll pull it out once it's back to the hole.

Whoever mentioned dishwashing soap...yes yes! great idea. We're going to try the drain king while the level is high and then we'll start using a lubricate. Probaby via hose and someone with a lot of blowing power.

I will keep you posted and if you think of any other ideas...please!