I want watermelon

I live in the perfect place to grow watermelon, yet I have had very limited success. I used to grow it up a trellis and would get a small ok melon or two. I just stopped, thinking it wasn't worth the effort.  A few years ago my daughter said she really wished I would grow watermelon. It was late in the season I think July. I bought a watermelon seedling, a Charleston gray. I didn't know this melon, but it was all I could find at this late date.  I planted it in the ground watered it and ended up with 4 of the biggest sweetest watermelon. The next year gophers were eating everything, and I had to stop planting in the ground. Each year I have tried and failed to grow watermelon. One year they grew ok, but never set fruit. Last year I got lots of fruit, that the critters enjoyed. I didn't get one.
This year I'm determined to grow and enjoy a watermelon. I have planted 4 different kinds. There's some kind of watermelon in every bed. I have also made watermelon beds. Small 17"X17"X5  1/2" maybe a little more. 2 have hardware cloth on the bottom and one has a chicken wire cage attached to the bottom. Under the little bed I dug a hole about 2' deep and filled it hugel style. One I filled with just native soil after all those Charleston gray grew great. The other two have purchased soil in the above ground part.  Two have a soaker hose running under the bed, the bask will have to be watered by hand. We have barn cats that have helped a lot with the small critters, but lately we've been plagued by raccoon . If I'm lucky enough to get fruit, I'm going to cage it, and put the cage on a tile, or bricks, something to get it off the ground.
This is the plan. Hopefully something will work. It will be interesting to see which method of growing works the best. So far the raised bed, and the little bed with potting soil are the best looking plants.
I would love to know if you have any tips or tricks to growing watermelon.

No advice. For years I grew good watermelons, until I didn't. Have not been able to grow them for maybe 5 years now. No idea why not.
Bought seeds and trying again this year.

We grew Sugar Baby until the deer stole them.  I got them back because the deer could not figure out how to bite into them.

This has been a very interesting experiment. Not scientific, especially since one of the little beds has been surrounded by a monster pumpkin vine. That being said in the beginning all the little beds were treated the same, and got pretty much the same sun and water. It's difficult to know who's winning at this point because the bed with the chicken wire basket was planted a week maybe 2 later than the other two. There's definitely a looser, at least so far. The bed I filled with native soil is way behind the other bed I planted at the same time. The funny thing is the radish grew the best in the native soil. The watermelon is clearly struggling. Only one bean germinated.
I think I will try to carefully remove some soil from the all native soil bed and add some bagged soil. I did add some of my organic fertilizer mix in all the beds. I'm not sure if the slow growth is lack of air in my clay soil, or the fertilizer that is in the bought soil. I only buy organic, so it's my understanding those nutrients are not available, until the soil life can break it down.
I have always heard not to use native soil in raised beds, but the best watermelon I have ever grown was in the ground in native soil, no fertilizer, just plant and water. The soil I used has been covered with wood chips for several years, so it seems like very nice soil. I really thought It would do well.
Also on a side note I took a chance a put some butternut squash seeds in the ground along the soaker hose and they germinated and look very healthy. Maybe something about disturbing the soil?  It's a little late, but maybe I will put a few watermelon seeds in the soil next to the soaker hose, and see what happens.

I plant watermelons every year. 2 years ago I got around 50 watermelons of various kinds from good to the best. Last year I had nothing. This year they grow, but worse than 2 years ago.
I have improved the soil and set them on irrigation and it seems like it was a counterproductive move. Deep irrigation attracted gophers. Watering manually did not penetrate the soil deep enough to attract this formidable pest. Harder soil was also acting as deterrent. Every few days one watermelon or melon is being destroyed. I have used urine and also poison (yes, I'm desperate) and it did not seem to change much.

Being desperate I have invented a protection: next year I will purchase stainless 1/2" chicken wire. Stainless so it will survive years of abrasion and watering. I will cut squares 30x30 cm or 40x40 cm (depending on roll size) and will put them on the ground and plant the seeds between the openings. Gophers always destroy my watermelons above the ground and close to the center of the plant. They do not seem to be attracted to the roots.

The key is timing - if I plant them too early they seem to lose any will to grow when nights are too cold. When I plant them too late, by the time they develop flowers it may be too hot for the fruit development. This year was very gentle, and spring had wonderful temperatures for very long time which helped all my fruit trees. It's still cooler now than previous years.

Gophers going after irrigated plants is such a frustrating pattern. They follow the moisture. I had something similar with moles tunnelling along my drip lines and undermining root systems. One thing that helped was switching to shorter, less frequent deep soaks rather than constant drip, so the soil dries out between waterings and becomes less attractive. Not a total fix but it slowed them down.

I ended up removing the watermelon from the native soil bed. I dumped it out. the top 2" or 3" of soil was rock hard, the rest wasn't to compact. the roots didn't go very deep, and when I tried to remove some of the soil it popped right out. This may kill, or stunt it, but it wasn't growing anyway. If it recovers yeah, if it doesn't, well lesson learned. I repotted it, dusted the roots mycroiza and watered it well. I will remove some of the pumpkin vines around it to give it more sun, then wait and see.
Both the other watermelons are doing well. The earlier planted one has 3 little watermelon, and the later one has one watermelon.
Maybe this is the year, I hope so.

Hello,
I'd like to give you a hand.  Could you tell me what elevation, growing zone, and soil type you have?  I'm not an expert but I've been growing them successfully for decades.  You've mentioned a few things but I'll need the information to do what I can.  I've grown them in a sandy clay as well as clay, and soils in between.  I happen to use drip irrigation currently but flood irrigation is just as good. They seem to just want heat and water.  Varieties do matter and in a hot environment I've found that Moon and Stars is probably one of the strongest varieties I've ever had, yet there are about a dozen others that I've used and do use to intermingle in my watermelon rows.  I currently simply make rows and put them in the rows.  They seem to do very well with spacing of 5 to 10 feet.  I try not to crowd them with anything else.  I suffer terribly from all sorts of critters that believe I'm running a food kitchen for them.  Yes, animals love to eat the middle of my watermelons too.  It's warfare in the garden :).   I grew maybe 90-100 of them last year.  I make juice out of them and refrigerate it and drink it all summer.  Let's get to the bottom of the issue and get you growing watermelons!

Thanks Al I will take any advice I can get.
I live in North California zone 9B 59' above sea level. I have clay soil. It's hot and dry. Even though we have clay soil it's amazing soil. Before gophers made it impossible I could grow just about anything.  I'm growing Charleston gray,   crimson Sweet, sugar baby, and another small ice box watermelon (I can't remember the name at the moment) Most of my beds are hugel beets with raised beds that have 1/2" hard wire cloth on the bottom. Mostly I hand water, a few beds have soaker hose. Most of my beds get a lot of sun. I have just recently mulched with straw. I plant polyculture style. No neat rows for me. There's a little bit of everything in every bed. The little beds I built just for the watermelon I planted radishes which I have already harvested, beans, one has a basil.
I'm not a pro, or "farmer" but I do consider myself a pretty good gardener. I have a large garden and grow lots of veggies, fruit, herbs and flowers. We've been eating squash, beans, and had a cantaloupe already. I know I can't be perfect, but it bums me to be defeated by watermelon.
Thanks

The watermelon I removed from the native soil and replanted died. I'm not to upset about it, it wasn't growing anyway. I planted 4 moon and stars watermelon seeds. It's pretty late, but we have hot weather into October, so it's possible. I figured what have I got to loose?
The other 2 watermelon are doing great. Anything can happen, there's still a ways to go, but I'm happy with how they look so far.

As you can see I did manage to grow watermelon. We got to eat a few. They were good, not great, but pretty good.
I wouldn't say I was very successful, but not a total fail either. I did grow them, and I learned a lot. Next year I think I will plant them sooner. I think I will plant the seeds around an olla. I'm not the most consistent waterer. I'm pretty good in the beginning, but as time goes by I mess up now and then. So an olla will at least provide a consistent amount of water at all times (as long as I keep it full). I didn't try the toothpick in the stem a little while before I pick the melons, and I do think it would help intensify the flavor .