What a passionate thread, this one! Lots of well thought out opinions.
Here's my two cents.
Keep several principles in mind, all the time. Different species of fish, different strains of the same species...have different lifestyles. Mix those species and expect behaviors and dominance inside the fish community. Some fish eat others, some reproduce, some live shallow, some live in cover.
The more you know, the better decisions you will make.
I absolutely concur pure strain Florida bass are tougher to catch than their native cousins. The biologist in me also knows those babies don't reach double digits because they don't eat. If they eat, they bite.
Here's a principle that's missing from this thread. The dynamics of your fish population are unique to that population. If you completely understand each species of fish, along with each size class within those species, you come a bit closer to understanding the dynamics of your population.
The most important point made throughout this thread is individual objectives. Meadowlark is less concerned with trophy size fish as he is with active catch rates. That decision has a direct influence on species, stocking rates, and management philosophies.
Conversely, those who seek truly huge bass are on a quest, sometimes an obsessive one, to say the least. If you guys haven't read the book, "Sowbelly, the Quest for the World Record Bass", take a look at that obsession.
I look at all these different fish as "tools" in your pond management tool kit. Want huge bass? Gotta have Florida genetics. Want to control macrophytic plants? Take a look at grass carp. Interested in an eating machine which grows quickly, takes pelleted feed, and fills a niche beyond the traditional stockings? Hybrid striped bass.
Each species of fish common to pond management serves a purpose. If the fish fits the habitat and the purpose, use it.
If not, don't.

Teach a man to grow fish...
He can teach to catch fish...