The best melon I've ever grown continues to be "Gold Strike", an orange variety, crisp, sweet, and everyone I've served it up too agrees. Not sure what "picnic size" is, small? but GS is a large melon.

concur. not sure what picnic size means. for small melons (15 lb)

Mickylee

Wilson Sweet

in 20-25 lb class

Chris Cross

Crimson Sweet

Golden Honey

I have grown a few varieties of watermelons both OP and hybrids. all are rated in Plants Database. I have grown Gold strike, very good but I like Golden Honey and if want large 30 lb.+ melons Orange Flesh Tendersweet, Orangeglo,. Desert King.

Picnic sized usually refers to the size of large store ones over 15lbs or so. The catalogues and universities also classify sizes as Icebox and personal sized, and are the approximate size as the category suggests.

Orangeglo is a very good one highly recommend

Orangeglo is hands down my favorite. I've also grown Cream of Saskatchewan, Crimson Sweet, Mountain Sweet Yellow, Moon and Stars, Blacktail Mountain, Jubilee, and probably half a dozen others I can't recall. None of those, or anything from the store comes close to Orangeglo for taste, but it is prone to splitting, and Crimson Sweet has always been the most reliable producer for me.

How do you like Cream of Saskatchewan? I got some seeds this year to try it out.

melikeeatplants, C of S was nothing special for me, lacking in sweetness and flavor, but I imagine it could be good in certain climates. I'm in a relatively short growing season area with cool summer nights, but that variety seemed to grow fine for me at least.

It is a Novelty for me. Texture is good, excellent sweetness, very light taste. Still the best white fleshed variety that I have grown.

it has a strangely salty taste, like Gatorade without flavor

For sweet taste (not necessarily extra crisp), I like Tom Watson and Ledmon. They can be large.

For crisp taste, I like Congo and Black Diamond. Crisp might not be the right word, but they are firm-fleshed, with good texture. They're large watermelons.

Verona's a good one for taste and earliness. It's not extra crisp, however. It can also be large.

I recommend Santo Domingo Winter, among the smaller watermelons. It's a keeping type with great flavor, and great texture. It was early for me, too. It refrigerates well. Another small winter type is King Winter. It tastes just like watermelon Jolly Ranchers. I don't recall how crisp it was.

You might like Jubilee, for a medium large watermelon.

I prefer large watermelons for picnics (usually). You mean an icebox melon?

For me, COS had a very, very mild, but kind of tropical taste. Not super sweet, but I liked it. I preferred the flavor to that of yellow and orange types (I prefer pink and red).

What about "personal" size watermelon? I know about sugar baby. Any other varieties worth growing? especially orange/yellow flesh ones?

On the "icebox" size like Sugar Baby, Micky lee is my favorite but I also like Wilson Sweet better than Sugar Baby. Yellow Doll is the best yellow fleshed I have grown in this category. Lots of hybrids either seeded or seedless in this category. I have grown a few of the small "personal size" watermelons but have been overly impressed. Have Dark Belle this year, Last year Gold N Gold