Excellent advice from folks more knowledgeable than myself. I'll throw out an amateur's viewpoint....

For a balanced, self-sustaining, fish population, I'm not sure I would go with the RES/HBG combination you mentioned. The redear usually spawn once a year in my ponds, and the HBG (F1's) are primarily male.... not much offspring will be produced. Probably not enough to feed your Bass, IF you want a balanced pond, native, northern BG would be a better choice.

On the other hand, If you're willing to take a more involved approach with your fish, and primarily want panfish for the table, then HBG can be a good choice. Just remember that they will require replenishment from you, by way of purchasing more fish every so often.
You will still need LMB, or another predator, to control their numbers. On a feeding program, the HBG growth rate can be astounding the first couple of years. As far as reproductive degradation goes, I'm of the opinion that the whole story is not yet known. Proper management may play a part here. Time will tell if it is an absolute certainty or not. I still wouldn't stock HBG without a predator in place.

To summarize, I feel that HBG are best suited to a non-balanced fishery, where the LMB quality will probably suffer.

I think of it like a vegetable garden. If HBG are the plants, then LMB must be the hoes used to cultivate around them. Just a tool.

Yeah, I know. It's harsh......

"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"

If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1)
And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1)
Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT?
PB answer: It depends.