What times of the year are the fish most active? I mean in the summer, fall, spring and winter is there a difference in whether or not the fish will be most likely to bite an active bait (like a spinner, jerk, or crank) and are the other times when the fish will be too lazy to eat anything but a slow moving worm, craw, or tube? Just wondering if the time of year or water temp and clarity make a difference in what speed of bait I should throw. Now that fall is approaching, i just wanted to know whether or not I should try something other than the worms and slow baits I've been fishing this summer.

Fall is an excellent time of year to use your crankbaits. The bass will be chasing all the shad in your lake. On the front page, there is a very good article about this very thing.  ;D

Last year in the fall, I did well on crankbaits, spinnerbaits, inline spinners and topwaters during the early part of the fall. Springtime can offer some very fast fishing, but it can also be good in the summer as well.

and are the other times when the fish will be too lazy to eat anything but a slow moving worm, craw, or tube?

Laziness is a human trait, not a fish trait.  

I would have to say the fall, because fish must feed up to get through the winter months.

Dale

Spring and Fall are when bass are most active. Bass put on the feed bag in the spring to feed up before they get locked onto the spawn and in the fall they put on the feed bag before the winter.

Like everyone else is saying, spring and fall are best, its not to hot, not to cold, but just right.