I'd like to make a comment. Re-read what Donald Harper said. Really read it, and think about it. There is years worth of hard earned knowledge and advice in those paragraphs. Do you notice he said more than once 8-15 feet? Your lake or your comfort zone for offshore fishing may be a little different than 8-15 feet, but you will find the zone, with experience. Just get the heck away from the banks, after having a plan, and sort it out. Figuring it out on your own will be a very rewarding and satisfying feat. Re-read those paragraphs!

The 52" will allow you to stay offshore and control the boat when the winds are a sustained 10-15mph with much higher gusts. The 45" will blow out in those conditions which are a 'bit' more than "chop".

take a class with Slade Dougharty

Have an appointment lined up in May with Slade!! Humminbird Helix 10 MEGA

Yep. Much depends on how much freeboard each boat has at the bow and how much wind and waves one will tolerate to fish. Measure the freeboard before deciding how long a TM shaft to purchase.

I have a 45" Terrova on my old Champion. Normally I run it with the TM head about 8" above full depth. I fish offshore fairly often and rarely need to drop the TM down all the way. But I prefer not to fish when it's really windy. If it's all the way down and still blowing out then it's too much wind and waves for me to fish enjoyably. YMMV.

This is spot on I won't even try to fish a windy bank during the shad spawn or fish deep when the wind is blowing or gusting for 20 MPH if I don't have a 52" shaft. You will have a tough time keeping the boat off the rocks if the boat trolling motor is out of the water.

If you want to go huge, I like offshore fishing at Toledo Bend. Lots of offshore opportunity there but lots of dead water as well. Get a good map though if you go there.

A good smaller lake with offshore opportunity is Athens.

Not hard to find fish at either of those lakes.

Get on the water and start experimenting yourself. You learn better when you can experience the bad and the good.

And the word "yourself" may be the operative word... if you're fishing with buddies who will always be bank beaters, you'll be pressured to move back to the shore if you don't have quick results doing it differently. You may want to do a few solo trips so you don't have anyone but yourself to keep entertained while you're learning.

The learning curve is huge here. I suggest you get help a couple of times to shorten that curve. Even after that it will take months of hard fishing to find a couple of good productive spots on your own. It takes a long time to fish 20 deep water spots just to locate one good spot.