as usual, I agree with Titanmen. a little water is needed to keep mud fresh. whenever I Was coating a textured surface from the 60's to mid 90's. the only drywall tools I used was my 6" knife, my stilts, my mixer and drill and my hawk
actually the holes are caused by a variety of things, beginning with mixing. for taping coat I always added about one cup of water to a 5 gallon bucket, mixing it thoroughly, until all the air is out. while mixing you can see bubbles coming up in the mud. I'd keep mixing until no bubbles came up for at least 3 minutes. it's much more profitable to spend an extra 5 minutes each bucket getting air out, than spending 5-6 hours re-coating a wall! after mixing well, I used my 6" knife to get in tight to all corners, constantly kneading the mud with knife on my hawk, making sure air didn't build up.
after going around all corners coating with knife, I'd start in one corner using a 16-18" fa concrete trowel, the corners would by then be dry enough to go over. using 16"-18" trowel, I always worked 32"-36" at a time, working from dry surface back into wet surface. once you get the hang of it, you can judge when to and how to angle your trowel in a way to leave little to no trowel marks, just like on concrete. it takes just the right pressure on trowel to push air bubbles out. you can see if bubbling? if see bubbles? when dry and sanding those bubbles cause the holes, you're simply sanding the mud off that air pocket.
after you've got 9-12 square feet coated, the air pockets will begin to show, the mud may be a bit set by now? I carried a spray bottle of water clipped in my pocket, a couple of squirts will keep it wet enough to go over and remove bubble, add a bit more pressure. if mud gets too dry? a damp sponge trowel working in a circular motion will remove air and smooth mud, then go back over with concrete trowel until it's like glass smooth and shiny.
when all done, if bubbles are seen? a quick spray and run over should get them all out. dawn your mask and sand with fine grit sandpaper and prime and paint.