Could carrier aircraft cover the patrol gap?

Could Kimmel have used carrier aircraft to provide reconnaissance around Pearl Harbor?

It was a poor option because the carriers needed to remain dispersed at sea, and using their aircraft for Hawaii's patrol screen would draw those vital ships toward danger.

Using carrier aircraft to fill the patrol gap was a bad trade. Kimmel's task-force organization normally kept the two carrier groups at sea and away from a vulnerable harbor concentration. Bringing them close enough to sustain Hawaii's reconnaissance would expose the fleet's principal means of counterattack. Patrol aviation and carrier aviation were not interchangeable pools of aircraft despite both being able to search ocean areas.